As the Common Ground festival continues to grow and entertain, the city of Lansing is keeping a watchful eye on its progress.
In 2001, Common Ground lost $33,900, but generated $3.3 million for Lansing businesses. In 2000, the festival lost $99,284, while generating $2.5 for businesses.
“We know it has taken losses, but it’s also made dramatic strides,” said Bob Swanson, Lansing’s director of finance. “If it continues to progress in attendance we’re hoping it’ll be around long term.
“But every year we’ll continue to evaluate its progress. We expected it to take three to five years before something like this returns a profit.”
Festival organizers would love to see another 20 percent increase in attendance, like they did in 2001. In 2000, Common Ground boasted an attendance of 48,174, then saw the number rise to 58,326 in its second year.
The 2001 ticket sales generated $520,305, up $170,656 from 2000.
Common Ground co-producer Kevin Meyer said he expects to see a similar increase in ticket sales when the July 9-14 festival ends. But Meyer pointed out that the festival’s bottom line isn’t the only figure to judge its success.
“Economically, this event has a $3.3 million impact on Lansing,” he said. “Thirty percent of the people attending come from outside the tricounty area.”
Common Ground co-producer Pete Sullivan said despite financial losses, the festival has kept its focus on the community.
“We donated $10,000 to $15,000 to nonprofit organizations the first year,” he said. “Then the second year we donated $20,000 to $25,000 of the money to more nonprofit organizations.”
Among those nonprofit organizations was the Capital Area United Way. United Way spokeswoman Michelle Regnert said the organization didn’t receive any money, but did receive other generous donations.
“They donated 200 single-day festival tickets to our organization,” Regnert said. “But no proceeds specifically from the festival were donated.”
Regnert said the tickets allowed people to attend the event who normally could not afford it.
Linda Frederickson, vice president of sales and marketing at Lansing Entertainment & Public Facilities, said despite the events losses, everyone involved remains optimistic it will begin turning a profit in the near future.
“We have taken losses financially organizing this festival, but we realize it takes something like this three to five years to turn over,” Frederickson said. “ But even though we we’re losing money, we take care of our community obligations first.”
Tanee Elston can be reached at elstonta@msu.edu.
