The Savannah Music Festival's fiscal year ended on June 30th marking the organization's fourth straight year with a balanced budget. Revised and renamed the Savannah Music Festival (SMF) in 2003, the organization cleared its debt after the 2007 festival and has since remained in the black with a positive cash flow. Ticket sales from the 2008 festival reached a record $876,000 representing 87 percent of available ticket revenue. Many recent concerts were documented and will soon be available via new radio and recording initiatives to be produced by SMF.
For every $1 of funding received from the City of Savannah, SMF 2008 generated $102 for the City in visitor spending. A comprehensive economic impact of $25 million was made up of more than $15 million in visitor spending, $9 million in local household income, and local tax revenues. Tax revenues generated during the 2008 festival were $1,005,029, a 28 percent increase from last year. Of the people who attended the 2008 festival from more than 100 miles away (35 percent of 2008 concertgoers), 82 percent cited SMF as the reason for their visit to Savannah. “We are very pleased with the financial outcome this year, particularly the jump in earned revenue," remarks SMF Board Chair Elizabeth Anderson. “While many ticketed music and arts festivals have been reporting decreased audience numbers this year, we feel fortunate that support for our event is growing."
New broadcast and recording projects include an SMF-produced radio series that begins airing this fall on Georgia Public Radio, featuring highlights culled from SMF's concert archives. Executive & Artistic Director Rob Gibson hosts the programs. Public radio listeners can also hear chamber music concerts from the 2008 festival on American Public Media's Performance Today and at nprmusic.org. With support from the Georgia Department of Economic Development's Product Development Grant program (through the Tourism Division), SMF is also developing a three-volume live CD and download collection by the end of 2008.
“Every year we judge our overall success on four criteria, each one of which was fulfilled in 2008: artistic quality, critical acclaim, audience & box office success, and financial results," says Gibson. “We believe that if we keep producing a distinctive and memorable event each year in Savannah, we can become one of the City's preeminent institutions."
The 2009 Savannah Music Festival lineup will be announced on October 15, 2008.
About the Savannah Music Festival The Savannah Music Festival is dedicated to presenting a world-class celebration of the musical arts by creating timeless and adventurous productions that stimulate arts education, foster economic growth, and unite artists and audiences in Georgia's first city. The 2009 festival runs from March 19 through April 5, including nearly 100 performances of world-class jazz, classical, blues, bluegrass, gospel and other genres of American and international roots music in intimate venues throughout the historic district of Savannah.
For every $1 of funding received from the City of Savannah, SMF 2008 generated $102 for the City in visitor spending. A comprehensive economic impact of $25 million was made up of more than $15 million in visitor spending, $9 million in local household income, and local tax revenues. Tax revenues generated during the 2008 festival were $1,005,029, a 28 percent increase from last year. Of the people who attended the 2008 festival from more than 100 miles away (35 percent of 2008 concertgoers), 82 percent cited SMF as the reason for their visit to Savannah. “We are very pleased with the financial outcome this year, particularly the jump in earned revenue," remarks SMF Board Chair Elizabeth Anderson. “While many ticketed music and arts festivals have been reporting decreased audience numbers this year, we feel fortunate that support for our event is growing."
New broadcast and recording projects include an SMF-produced radio series that begins airing this fall on Georgia Public Radio, featuring highlights culled from SMF's concert archives. Executive & Artistic Director Rob Gibson hosts the programs. Public radio listeners can also hear chamber music concerts from the 2008 festival on American Public Media's Performance Today and at nprmusic.org. With support from the Georgia Department of Economic Development's Product Development Grant program (through the Tourism Division), SMF is also developing a three-volume live CD and download collection by the end of 2008.
“Every year we judge our overall success on four criteria, each one of which was fulfilled in 2008: artistic quality, critical acclaim, audience & box office success, and financial results," says Gibson. “We believe that if we keep producing a distinctive and memorable event each year in Savannah, we can become one of the City's preeminent institutions."
The 2009 Savannah Music Festival lineup will be announced on October 15, 2008.
About the Savannah Music Festival The Savannah Music Festival is dedicated to presenting a world-class celebration of the musical arts by creating timeless and adventurous productions that stimulate arts education, foster economic growth, and unite artists and audiences in Georgia's first city. The 2009 festival runs from March 19 through April 5, including nearly 100 performances of world-class jazz, classical, blues, bluegrass, gospel and other genres of American and international roots music in intimate venues throughout the historic district of Savannah.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
