How many, from where and how much are you spending is what needs to be known about Kempenfest crowds at this weekend’s Barrie waterfront festival.
On-site and online surveys by the city could generate thousands of responses.
“We would like to have our attendance data and average spending per person and economic impact updated so that it’s verified,” said Bob Stones, 2024 Kempenfest chairman.
“The consultant’s study this summer is to have a third party look at everything and come back with numbers we can all agree on. We’re not out by a lot," he added.
The survey is also to determine if those attending Kempenfest are locals, coming from less than 40 kilometres away, or tourists coming from more than 40 kilometres away.
Spending numbers generate the economic impact, which Kempenfest officials use with their sponsors.
Last year, Stones said four people did a survey and there were 500 responses.
The city’s on-site response target is 2,000 this weekend, and surveyors will be giving out 7,000 business cards with a QR code to go online after Kempenfest and complete the survey.
Ashley Chappell, Barrie’s supervisor of special events and programming, said the city, with participation from Kempenfest Inc. and Tourism Barrie, has engaged research and data analysts from the research and innovation department at Georgian College, to host both on-site and post-event surveys about Kempenfest.
“The questions being asked will include both statistical information — size of group, where they are from, how many days of the festival they attended — along with experiential questions about the overall satisfaction with their experience at Kempenfest and suggestions to the organizers for future years,” she said.
Stones came to city council last January asking for $50,000 for the survey ($25,000), money to cover shuttle buses ($15,000), for which the city is paying. An estimated 6,100 passengers boarded the shuttle bus during the 2023 Kempenfest weekend, which is consistent with ridership in 2022.
And the remainder of funding is for the second or family side stage, which Kempenfest officials were able to raise.
The municipal accommodation tax (MAT) is the funding source for the $40,000. It is a levy on room rates at hotels, motels and AirBnBs. Tourism Barrie is the collection agent, on behalf of the City of Barrie, as the city’s "tourism entity," and receives 50 per cent of the MAT.
“We’re planning on this being a one-time request; we’re not asking for money every year,” Stones said.
Kempenfest officials already have a baseline of information, a 2023 sponsorship report, even if the accuracy of some figures is in doubt.
The annual waterfront festival attracted 100,000 to 150,000 people during its four days, along with 300-plus arts and crafts exhibitors.
Locals living within 40 kilometres of Kempenest and attending totalled as many as 108,315, while a maximum of 41,685 were more than 40 kilometres away.
But 65.52 per cent attending Kempenfest don’t stay overnight, while the remainder do for one to three nights. The average age of a person at Kempenfest is 43, and 87.27 per cent are white.
Word of mouth accounts for how 54.6 per cent of those attending hear of Kempenfest, while 33.74 per cent got the word through social media, 25.24 per cent by radio.
The report also delved into what people liked most at the festival, and it was 41.53 per cent the music, 16.31 per cent the crafts, 5.08 per cent the food and 3.6 per cent the beer.
At 20.79 per cent, parking was least liked followed by costs at 15.17 per cent, drink options 11.79 per cent, choice of bands 8.97 per cent and cleanliness at 7.35 per cent.
The average audience rating of Kempenfest, on a scale of 1 to 10, was 8.9, and 98.79 per cent said they’d go again.
The report also said locals spent $18.7 million at Kempenfest, tourists $10.2 million, for gross revenues of $28.95 million.
This number included all expenditures to attend Kempenfest, such as beverages, food, fuel, supplies, tickets and travel.
“The 2023 number ($28.95 million) has been revised and it has been revised downward,” Stones said. “Tourism Barrie has done a revised number of people that attended because they used cellphone tower data last summer.
“So they said, in their opinion, more like around 100,000 attended the event.”
He said 2,000 completed surveys on-site will generate a good number of responses, and a drone will help capture crowd size this Kempenfest.
It has taken place along Barrie’s waterfront annually for 52 years and features nearly 300 arts and crafts exhibitors, a midway, kids’ village, antiques, face painters, buskers, food vendors and live music during the August long weekend.
Kempenfest is an incorporated not-for-profit organization, comprised of representatives of local not-for-profit organizations and service clubs.
Stones has said Kempenfest has a $600,000 operating budget this year.
Earlier this year Barrie city council passed a motion to fund a consultant to support city staff, Tourism Barrie and Kempenfest officials in assessing the overall economic impact of the festival, along with a financial and governance review to help improve Kempenfest’s operational and financial sustainability.
The study is to include attendance numbers, overnight stays, visitor profiles, buying habits and visitor feedback.
City staff will report back on the findings of the economic impact analysis and overall event review, then provide recommendations on the future support of Kempenfest.
The goal is to create a self-sufficient Kempenfest in 2025, and beyond.
Chappell said city staff, students and volunteers conducting the surveys hoping to speak with 2,000 people on-site, with a short, five-question survey for basic statistical information and then provide a URL/QR code to a website where past, present and future Kempenfest goers can submit their feedback about the event in a longer survey.
The information collected on-site at Kempenfest will be included in the economic impact analysis and overall event review requested by city council.
