Summerfest's 2008 attendance was 831,024. And, while I'm sure that most will interpret this as "another decline," let's remember that this is still an average of 75,548 people per day -- an impressive number given the severe and threatening weather on four key days and general state of gas prices.
Last year, the festival hit 864,866, which was down slightly from 901,841 in 2006. For those interested here are some additional Summerfest numbers, 2005: 901,841, 2004: 867,754 and 2001: 1,039,794.
"We are pleased with our 2008 results considering key factors that were out of our control," said Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer, Don Smiley. "We kept prices affordable, delivered a quality experience for our patrons and remained profitable during tough economic times. We are thankful to everyone who supported and attended Summerfest this year."
Attendance of 825,000 to 900,000 was what Milwaukee World Festival, Inc. had planned and budgeted for. And, new promotional partnerships strengthened Summerfest's business-to-business revenue. New relationships, including Johnson Controls, Marcus Hotels & Resorts, Buell Motorcycles, Focus On Energy, Pick ‘n Save, MMSD / Milorganite, TruGreen, OnMilwaukee.com, Cream City Music, Zude.com, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sabor and Botanas, helped Summerfest offer value and quality through relevant music, food, beverage and entertainment.
Summerfest 2009 takes place June 25-July 5 from noon until midnight daily.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
