HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 4.3 St Pats Celebration Recap
STAFF REPORT CITY CLERK
File #950-40
CITY COUNCIL
DATE:April 5, 2016
TO:
Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM:
Christopher L. Foss, City Manager
SUBJECT:
St. Patrick's Day Celebration Recap
Prepared by Tegan McLane, Cultural Arts & Heritage Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council will receive a recap report on this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Celebration.
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Attendance at Dublin’s 33 annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, held March 12 and 13, 2016,
was significantly impacted by rain. However, Staff responded well to the challenges, and a
majority of customers completing evaluations were satisfied or very satisfied with the event. This
year’s event had the largest sponsorship participation ever.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive the report.
Reviewed By
Assistant City Manager
DESCRIPTION:
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Dublin’s 33 annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival was significantly impacted by this year’s El Niño
forecast and the steady rain which began Saturday afternoon and continued all day Sunday.
Although advertised as a “rain or shine” festival and despite preparations to minimize the rain’s
effect, vendor participation, public attendance and sales all took a big hit. The authentic Irish
weather prompted Staff to end the event three hours early on Sunday.
Staff estimates Saturday’s crowd was about 15,000, compared to 40,000 per day in recent
years. However, when it began to rain, the crowd dwindled to less than 1,000.
After the festival closed for the day and vendors were allowed to bring their vehicles back into
the festival grounds to restock, more than a third of the craft vendors packed up and left, citing
ITEM NO. 4.3
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poor sales and rain damage to merchandise. This was particularly noticeable because the
number of Irish vendors and craft vendors was already a little low due to weather forecasts and
competition from the Sonora Celtic Faire the same weekend.
Sunday morning’s Shamrock 5K Fun had more than 1,900 registered runners, but fewer than
1,000 showed up to run. By noon, the runners and their fans had mostly departed, leaving just a
few hundred festival-goers. The Irish Dance Stage was closed, as the school that was
scheduled to perform on Sunday cancelled their appearance. Main Stage performances
continued through mid-afternoon, with a crowd of a couple hundred huddling under the audience
tent to hear the U-2 tribute band Zoo Station. Pub Stage performances also continued, but only
the heartiest of fans stood with umbrellas to listen. All Carnival rides were closed because of
rain-related safety concerns. Some of the remaining craft vendors and sponsors -- many of
whom had already packed their wares – began transporting materials out by hand.
Around noon, Staff made the decision to close at 2 p.m. in order to allow vehicle traffic into the
festival grounds so remaining vendors could pack out. Personnel at the front gate were asked to
advise arriving customers of the early closure and notified the remaining vendors they would be
allowed to bring vehicles onto the grounds. At 2 p.m., Public Safety officers assisted in clearing
the festival grounds and opened the main gate for traffic. A staff member was stationed at the
main gate to inform arriving customers about the early closure. An estimated 350 people were
turned away between 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Staff believes this only the second time in 20 years that the event closed early due to extreme
weather. However, despite the rain, there were some bright spots in the event.
Event sponsorships were the highest in history, with local businesses contributing more than
$64,000 to participate in the festival. Many sponsors were new to the event. Sponsors will be
recognized and thanked at a future City Council meeting.
The sun held out long enough on Saturday for the City’s newly acquired Model A Kolb Truck to
make its debut appearance in the Dublin Lions Club St. Patrick’s Day Parade, with parade
Grand Marshall Pete Snider, the City’s first Mayor, in the passenger seat.
The City’s first experience partnering with a non-profit organization to operate the beverage bars
was a success. Dublin Rotary Club ran an efficient beverage operation, and partnered with six
other nonprofit partners to provide volunteer staff for the bars.
Despite the rain, the majority of festival-goers (76%) completing customer satisfaction surveys
indicated they were satisfied or very satisfied with the event. Customers commented that the
music was particularly high quality. Those who were dissatisfied were mostly disappointed that
the event closed early despite having been advertised as “rain or shine” or disappointed in the
lower number of vendors.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
None.
ATTACHMENTS:
None.
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