Kansas City's Irish Fest is one of the biggest and best in the nation. Sadly, harsh economic times, great weather and a vast array of different entertainment options around the area might have all contributed to lower attendance.
Usually, when Irish Fest gets a good turnout they can't help but brag. Strangely, there's no celebrating from the local Irish this year.
AWESOME TKC TIPSTERS say it was the PRICEY $15 ADMISSION FEE that kept most people away this year. That kind of toll just to START a good time doesn't jibe well with ongoing job losses and the bleak Kansas City economic outlook.
TKC is still waiting for comment from a couple of Irish Fest associates on hard numbers but folks in the crowd noticed far fewer people attending the Irish celebration despite the great weather (or maybe because of it) and certainly a lot more negative reviews.
The Irish Fest blog is keeping their comments open and inviting response.
I'm curious about what TKC haters say as well . . .
Are down, down, down, down, down?
ReplyDeletePeople are saving their money so they can pay for the new HIGHER water rates.
ReplyDeleteagree.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you expect from a people who let their families die of starvation while they lived on an island surrounded by water that is full of fish?
ReplyDeleteThey're not very bright folks.
What a stupid comment.
ReplyDeleteThe Irish Fest had little to offer. After paying the $15 per person to get in, they had the same old tents of jewelry & t-shirts and expensive food from trailers. This was the same street fair we see everywhere in KC, but there's no entry fee on the others (Art fair, etc). It was Santa Caligon days with a hefty fee. I won't be back.
ReplyDeleteI was disappointed too. Very expensive.
ReplyDeleteThey have to pay for the empty museum at Union Station that no one visits.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised they haven't gone to the city looking for money like every other little group of people with an idea that they can't get anybody to support ends up doing.
Same thing every time. At least Eddie Delahunt delivered an okay time. Hamish's meat pies,,,, yuck! And again with the men walking around in kilts. This wasn't the Highland Games.
ReplyDeleteI drove by it a few times and saw no crowds. I thought it was free. I would have never paid 15 dollars to get in. Festivals should be free. They should make money off their food and so on not gate admission. Talk about dumb organizers.
ReplyDeleteI got out of my car when I saw it but when my wife and I were told it was 15.00 we both looked a each other and left. We kept the 30 bucks and had a nice meal on the Plaza.
ReplyDeleteMilwaukee's Irish fest is still the best and half the price
ReplyDeleteShows Pat O"Neil cannot promote snow on Christmas. That is why Mike Burke dumped him in his campaign for Mayor.
ReplyDeleteFifteen bucks is outright outrageous. I passed. I can get drunk for $15 at The Brick, not have to pay $15 to fucking get in, and not have to deal with as much white trash.
ReplyDeleteFor all you dollar menu fans.... Festivals of this size are not cheap. Not one of you commented on the entertainment. These bands are coming from all across the country and from Europe and they don't come CHEAP!
ReplyDeleteFor all you dollar menu fans....Hey buddy that's why we didn't go. We took our dollars elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteEven the vendors at Santa-Cali said sales were down... .. . This being the third year in a row.. . Food vendors did the best, inexpensive chintzy-fun stuff and jewelry did 2nd best,,, would've hated to be a serious artist pimpin' my wares,, booth rent high, sales down.. everybody's got a Five or Ten in their pocket, but fewer folks got the Fitty...
ReplyDeletePushin' two Grand for a premium food vendor slot, plus insurance.. . .
ehh.. .
This town can't even hold a summer festival without fucking it up.
ReplyDeleteI was not going to bring the family down there just to generate fees to enrich the O'Neill family.
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ReplyDeleteGood for you Dan! To quote Bob Dylan, "Some people don't have much food on their table but they got a lot of knives and forks and they gotta cut somethin'." Irishfest was a blast AND a bargain!
ReplyDeleteIf I could clear up a couple misconceptions from the inside of Irish Fest:
ReplyDeleteThe same old $10 ticket price we've offered for our previous 7 years was available through online purchases and at HyVee stores. Lots of people took advantage of it.
The Milwaukee Irish Fest is not "half the price." A ticket there is $15 per day and has been for years.
All this talk of no crowds and small attendance is news to us who were there on the ground for all of our 30 hours of operation. We were thrilled with our crowds and while hard numbers aren't in yet none of us would be surprised to see 2010 attendance rival or beat 2009. The perception that there were fewer people was probably due to the fact that we expanded our footprint substantially by pushing the Boulevard Stage further down Grand and moving into Washington Square park. Funny, a few years ago there was an uproar about how it was too crowded at Irish Fest. We expand and make more room and people talk like there were tumbleweeds blowing around. Believe me, we were very happy with the number of people through the gates.
There was a lot of celebrating by the Irish this year as my sore head can attest. The 2010 Irish Fest was very successful financially, culturally and musically. If we haven't "bragged" yet, give us a minute. It's only been a day. We're tired!
Regarding the "same old thing" comment: 16 of our performers were playing their very first Kansas City Irish Fest. Hardly the same old thing.
Can somebody point me to all these negative reviews? The only review I've seen so far was Tim Finn's at the Star and it was pretty positive. I can't count "it was expensive so I didn't go" as a review, sorry.
And lastly, that bleak economy? Guess what, folks, we live in it too. Irish Fest is incredibly expensive to produce even with a 99.9% volunteer staff. Our entertainment budget alone was well over $100,000. Tents, stages, light, sound, security, fencing, generators, transportation, printing, permits, licenses...how in the world could we possibly do this for free as some people always suggest we do? Sponsor dollars are scarce and this year's at the gate price was our first price increase ever. And, to repeat my earlier statement, the old price was still easily available in advance, as was a $25 weekend pass. And of course you can always get in free and get a second ticket buy volunteering. Been to a concert lately? Seven stages of world class entertainment for 12 hours even the $15 price tag still sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
As Tony said, we welcome your comments either through our blog or by email us at info@kcirishfest.com.
I notice a few typos in there as I reread. Forgive me. I'm still recovering...
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that irritated my girlfriend and me was the lack of Irish food. Hell, the one place that served corned beef ran out at 6 p.m. on Sunday. What the hell??? And please, next year, forgo the English food (fish and chips, meat pies). I'm not Irish, but I was insulted. There was more English food than Irish!
ReplyDeleteCorned beef is about as Irish as hot dogs. Beef of any kind has never been a staple of the Irish diet. Fish and chips is actually much more on the mark.
ReplyDeleteWell I went with a group of friends on Sunday night and had a blast. It was packed when I was there and I saw lots of people having a good time.
ReplyDeletedid they have potatoes?
ReplyDeleteKelli, what's your problem again?
ReplyDeleteThe Summer of Recovery is affecting every event, it seems.
ReplyDelete10:28, you are an ignorant asshole. Go fuck yourself.
ReplyDeleteNot much bang for your buck! But i know it is not cheap to put this thing on. I say bring less Irish food! Because Irish is not very good to be honest.
ReplyDeleteDan, I went to the website and prepurchased @ $10/ticket, but it wasn't easy getting them emailed. Had to call your vendor. Change web vendors or do it yourself. Even with that, I thought the $10 price was too steep.
ReplyDeleteI fucked myself last night. You know, I liked it.
ReplyDeletePeople are idiots. Tony, you should be taking several of these personal attack comments down.
ReplyDeletePeople are idiots. Tony, you should be taking several of these personal attack comments down.
ReplyDeleteI didn't go when I saw the racist sign advertising it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the Irish Festival should be held on St Pattys day
ReplyDeleteYeah, because the weather is always awesome in Kansas City in mid-March. I think we're fine right where we are, thanks.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever thought that your tipsters might be wrong, Tony?
ReplyDeletehttp://kcirishfest.blogspot.com/2010/09/numbers-part-2.html
ReplyDeleteNot that anybody will ever see this comment buried under here, but the numbers are out. Irish Fest's biggest and most successful year ever with 100,000 people through the gates. Time for new tipsters, Tony.
ReplyDelete