December 2017 - Parks & Recreation - 61

A report by IBISWorld places the value
of the live music industry, including live
venues other than festivals, at $28 billion.

vals with a deep devotion to low-impact
operations. The pressure to reduce impact
yields some interesting techniques that,
beta tested at the festival, could be applied
elsewhere in large crowd events and even
humanitarian applications.
Positive impacts include enjoyment of
the space itself, the associated valuation
of parks as desirable venues and the economic return to cities, based on negotiated
fees for use of the park. A base condition
of major events is typically the restoration
agreement, which grants the right to access the park in exchange for a guarantee
of restoration and some other negotiated
terms. In the case of for-profit events, there
is a clear financial pro forma as the subject
of the agreement. For instance, Austin's
agreement for the Austin City Limits music festival dedicates a share of the festival's
revenue to the Austin Parks Foundation.
Tools of Urban Vitality
In 2017, festival organizer C3 Presents gave
$6.3 million to the Austin Parks Foundation, part of the $26 million C3 Presents
has given the foundation over the past 12
years. The funds go partially to Zilker Park,
where the festival is held, and to other parks
throughout the city. In addition to these
direct benefits, Brendan Daley, director of
strategy & sustainability for the Chicago
Park District, notes that, oftentimes, a larger and deeper economic impact is from the
activities, such as hotel stays, bar and restaurant tabs, and transportation that eventgoers
partake in when in a city. In addition to the
event fee, there are often amusement taxes
on tickets or hotel stays that further contribute to the economic impact. Not to mention
the jobs that are created by the event (security, ticket takers and vendors).
Dr. Jonathan Wynn, author and associate professor of sociology at the University
of Massachusetts, has examined the music
festival as a social phenomenon in his book
Music/City. Dr. Wynn uses the term " festivalization " to describe how cities like Nashville, Austin and Newport have experienced
the success of such events and made further

use of them as tools of urban vitality. He
points out the key factors that contribute to
the success of festivals - one of which is
their temporary, low-infrastructure nature
- and notes that the concept provides an
alternative to reliance on enormous capital
and operating funds for bricks-and-mortar
venues. In a world seeking authenticity and
the vitality of urban spaces that is deemed
to be a barometer of success, festivalization
could be a nimbler strategy.
Even as the industry matures and is
subject to such analysis of the merits
of festivals as urban regeneration tools,
among those who watch such trends,
there is concern that commercialization,
commoditization, over-exposure and
other industry-insider concerns may be
reducing festival popularity. But, there
may be a bigger threat to their success.
The Canary in the Coal Mine
Music festivals are but one of the types
of major civic gatherings that have
drawn attention lately due to acts of
terrorism, most recently in New York
City. Since 9-11, iconic events, such as
New Year's Eve in Times Square, the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and
the New York Marathon, have received
intense attention to assure their security,
with a wide array of security strategies
put in place. Even preceding the recent
acts of terror, there has historically been
a commitment to security for entertain-

ment (music, fireworks and parades) and
purposeful occasions (political rallies
and advocacy or protest marches). While
many purposes for gathering are more
important and meaningful to civic life,
music festivals in public spaces are, in a
way, the canary in the coal mine: these
discretionary events would likely be
among the first to be discontinued if the
measures taken fail to ensure security.
On September 25, 2015, hundreds of
park professionals checked into the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas
for that year's NRPA Annual Conference
venue and left, uneventfully, several days
later. This year, also on September 25, the
Las Vegas shooter checked in to the same
hotel, five days prior to his deadly rampage directed at attendees at the Route 91
Harvest country music festival. The coincidence of common dates and places is more
than just grim irony - the Las Vegas and
other acts of terrorism threaten the public
trust and challenge the simple pleasure of
gathering safely in public to listen to music,
whether in the United States or abroad.
Harvest was held in Las Vegas Village,
a 15-acre plot near the Luxor and Mandalay Bay hotels and one of two open-air
venues owned by MGM Resorts International on the Strip. " Before it became
the site of the deadliest mass shooting in
modern U.S. history, the Route 91 Harvest festival was one of a handful of concert blowouts aiming to burnish the Las

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December 2017 - Parks & Recreation

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