Art Project

Goal 1: Festival attendance grows to 2,500 adults and 500 children. Festival attendance is important because we want to expose as many people and families to a high-quality arts experience as possible. It is also an indication of the overall success of our event—quality artists, successful advertising, attention to site details, and quality volunteers should all lead to increased ticket sales and attendance. Goal 2: Audience location range increases. We see a good mix of local and Twin Cities attendees. To grow overall attendance, we need to increase our reach to other areas of Minnesota and beyond to promote RiverSong and pull people to our community. Outside of the project goal, we feel it is important to note that we have an operational goal we will be working on during this time frame as well. Although not tied to this project specifically, this organizing goal will benefit our 2015 festival. Goal 3: RiverSong completes formal organizing process to add steering committee capacity and continue strategic planning, ensuring the festival is set up for future success.Ticket sales and total attendance will be tracked to measure the outcome and compare growth to previous years. Pre-sale and gate sales are recorded. Volunteers, artists and vendors are also tracked using passes. Children will receive wristbands to count them. We will track attendee residence using online ticket sale information and by requesting zip codes for on-site ticket sales. This will help evaluate the success of our marketing in different locations. The steering committee will review results and consider what factors we see as influencing attendance based on residence and survey results. Increased ticket sales will also drive on-site revenue, which helps the festival become more financially stable and less reliant on grants and sponsorships, without passing on the additional expenses to individual ticket buyers. As noted in our organizational goal three, internal structure is important in this stage of RiverSong’s growth. Tangible outcomes will include 501(c)(3) documentation, 3-year strategic plan and a steering committee succession plan. While not tied to this project, these items will benefit our 2015 festival.