paid for Riverfest tickets, board says|[04/22/08]

Riverfest has more reliable numbers this year, and organizers confirmed this morning that about 6,000 people were admitted to paid downtown events Friday and Saturday.

Higher numbers were reported after the 2007 event, but this year’s attendance was verifiable, said Ginny Tzotsolas, president of the volunteer board that plans activities.

Tzotzolas said this year’s final numbers show 3,250 people buying tickets Friday evening and 2,750 people at the gate Saturday evening. The numbers don’t include those attending who had sponsor, volunteer or entertainment passes. Advance tickets made up a portion of sales.

“The tickets were numbered, and they were tear-off tickets,” she said. “They were two-part tickets, so we had the stub to count.”

In years past, rough estimates have been given to determine how many people paid the $20 ticket price or $35 for a weekend pass. Last year, an estimate of 4,000 to 5,000 on Friday night and about 6,000 Saturday night was reported. But even though tickets were numbered for the first time in 2007, volunteers had to, literally, count heads as people walked through gates, which made those numbers unreliable, Tzotzolas said.

Board members plan to continue to use ticket stubs as a way to track each year’s attendance and, then, compare to following years. Next year’s festival, its 22nd, is set for April 17-18. The money raised one year provides a basis for the budget for the next.