Utah Arts Festival faces $200K shortfall after low 2024 attendance
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Photo: Courtesy of Utah Arts Festival
The Utah Arts Festival is facing a $200,000 deficit after June's event fell short of attendance and revenue expectations.
Why it matters: Organizers say the losses are placing the nearly 50-year-old festival's future "in jeopardy" and are asking the public for donations.
- "We do not currently have the financial capacity to meet all of our outstanding expenses, maintain operations and begin preparing for our 2025 event as we normally would," leaders posted on their website.
State of play: This year's three-day art fair at Library Square drew 14,000 fewer festival attendees than expected, due to factors like blazing temperatures, competing events and its timing near the Fourth of July weekend, executive director Aimee Dunsmore told Axios.
- Dunsmore said she feels hopeful the nonprofit can resolve the debt based on the support and donations they have received so far.
What they're saying: "The art is an important part of the community, and the vitality of the community," she said.
The big picture: In-person festival attendance has notably declined post-pandemic, impacting events from Park City's Kimball Arts Festival to Coachella.
- During the pandemic, fewer U.S. adults attended cultural events in person, with 82% saying they participated digitally, per a National Endowment for the Arts survey released in 2023.
- Pre-COVID, the Utah Arts Festival drew between 75,000 to 80,000 attendees over course of the event. Dunsmore noted. This year's goal was 50,000.
Follow the money: The nonprofit is managed by three full-time employees. Seasonal contractors are hired to work on artistic programming.
- Programming is the nonprofit's largest expense, taking up a little over half the organization's $2 million annual budget.
Between the lines: Several people who purchased tickets said on social media they skipped it because of the weather.
- Maximum temperatures during the festival ranged from 85-101 degrees, per National Weather Service data.
- "That's become a bigger and bigger factor for people choosing to come down," Dunsmore said.
- She said moving the event to a cooler month — or to a different location — is on the table.
Yes, but: Some Salt Lake-based artists have questioned the festival's relevance in the local art scene.
Flashback: The festival faced a deficit in 2001 when it was temporarily held at the Utah State Fairpark, leading to low attendance, Dunsmore noted. Attendance picked up after it moved to Gallivan Center and, later, Library Square.
What's next: The organization is seeking community feedback to reimagine future events.