Elvis Festival makes $75K; future unsure

6/17/2008 6:36:15 AM
Daily Journal




BY CARLIE KOLLATH
Daily Journal

TUPELO - The Elvis Presley Festival has got its groove back, but it might be too late for next year.

Festival organizers on Monday said the festival, held earlier this month, had a net income of at least $75,000. The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association, the organization that puts on the festival, lost about $46,000 on the 2007 festival.

Based on ticket counts, this year's festival had 9,529 attendees, up from about 7,300 last year.

But despite the record year, DTMSA board President Camille Sloan said members are going to "see logistically how we can restructure it."

"We were anxious to make some money," she said. "We hope we are going to have another festival. It's a real strain on our office."

Sloan will meet with fellow board members today in a board retreat that will focus on options for the Elvis Presley Festival. She said her goal is to "get our Main Street effort going strong" and "be fiscally responsible with what we've got."

"Fiscally responsible" is a term that has been bandied about at nearly every DTMSA board meeting this past year. In 2007, the festival lost $45,959.72, and the group cleared out its rainy day fund to pay bills.

This year, the Elvis Presley Festival, with chairwoman Amy Nash at the helm, scaled back. The festival was held on one downtown stage instead of two, and about $100,000 was slashed from the budget.

This year's $251,750 budget was based on the amount of sponsorships that were committed to the festival, said DTMSA Executive Director Debbie Brangenberg.

Organizers saved $25,000 by skipping the car giveaway offered previously, and by cutting back on expenses for entertainment, marketing, insurance, security and site management.

"I think we've got the best formula," Brangenberg said. "It worked well for us ... I think we did a great job in selecting the entertainment ... Our attendance was outstanding ... I'm just really proud of the whole organization and the volunteers and the festival committee that helped us achieve this success, as well as the sponsors."

Brangenberg said she's "already working to see what next year will bring."

Will it include the 11th Annual Elvis Presley Festival?

"As far as I know, but I'm not the one that votes," she said. "We are the birthplace of Elvis Presley. We have to have a festival."

Source: http://preview.tinyurl.com/5cze7k

Hi there Charmaine, hope you're feeling better, sorry to hear that you've been unwell of late.
It sure would be a huge shame if Tupelo of all places did not have an Elvis Festival...here's wishing them good luck in sorting something positive out.
Angela xx

Im amazed that Tupelo didnt even make as much as Porthcawl!
Porthcawl makes quite an effort to look after the ETAs taking part as well with local hotels and guest houses getting involved so they must be doing something right.