Fall Fest - Post Event analysis
 | Author:
Jeff Langlanais
Jeff Langlinais: MT43 News President |
FALL FEST – POST-EVENT ANALYSIS
Although Fall Fest 2022 is behind us, the Rotary Club is now in the wrap-up phase. We are currently holding debriefing meetings to discuss what went right, what went wrong, and how can we improve it next year. As a big thank you to our sponsors, we will be holding our “Sponsor Thank You” event in the weeks to come.
The final tally is not entirely completed (as we are still paying bills), but it appears that Fall Fest 2022 was the second-best event ever, outdone only by last year’s event. Of course, the success of last year’s Fall Fest was due to two significant factors: COVID was winding down, and the weather was nearly perfect. Was this year’s success due to momentum from last year? Will next year be another big event, or will it taper back to the scale of previous years? We’ll see.
There seems to be very polar opinions in the community about Fall Fest. Some say it was wonderful. Some businesses had great sales – especially on Sunday during the Car Show. Many attendees have a great time listening to music, eating brats, drinking beer, and shopping at the vendors. During my time at the weekend event, the only negative comments I heard were related to dogs. Others see problems associated with holding the event in town. Some businesses love increased sales, while others think it’s a burden. As in the past, parking is a problem that seems to surface constantly.
How can these negative issues be addressed? One way, as mentioned by JB Howick in last week’s newspaper (and others), is to move the event to a location outside of town. Maybe to the rodeo grounds? Maybe to a pasture similar to Red Ants Pants? Yes, changing the venue could certainly solve some problems, but it would create others.
What is Rotary going to do about it? After the 2021 event, Rotary did an internal evaluation and decided to keep Fall Fest at Heritage Park. This year, we will reevaluate and expand our input base. First, we want to survey the local businesses to understand how Fall Fest helps or hurts them. We plan on working with the city to better understand how Fall Fest impacts city services. We will also be looking at working with the city and local entities to refine our event parking plan. Rotary will certainly consider moving the venue, but only if the evidence supports the idea.
Thank you again for all the support from this wonderful town and surrounding areas! Your participation at Fall Fest allows Rotary to give back to our community. “Service above Self.”
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