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Tuesday: 10,000
Wednesday: 18,000
Thursday: 19,300
Friday:20,200
Source: MECA
Omaha's largest-ever string of musical acts gave a less-than-hoped-for boost to downtown business.
Still, most bar, hotel and restaurant managers aren't complaining. They agreed that the number of people who braved scorching temps to see the 71 bands at this week's Red Sky Music Festival resembled the type of crowd they normally see during a concert at the Qwest Center Omaha — recently renamed CenturyLink Center Omaha.
In other words, it wasn't as busy as everyone expected. But it wasn't necessarily dead either.
"You know, you always want more people in here," said Cindy Murphy, manager of the Old Mattress Factory, located across parking lots from the convention center and arena. "But it could have been worse."
The bar's beer tent, popular during last month's College World Series, failed to attract already-sweaty Red Sky attendees.
Inside, however, was a different story. Being able to escape into an air conditioned space was more popular than the drink specials. In fact, the Mattress Factory opened up its party room to allow more people inside.
"Our inside business was fantastic," Murphy said. "It's hard to get people to want to stand around and enjoy this heat."
The inaugural event, which started Monday and wraps up Saturday evening in and around downtown's TD Ameritrade Park, aimed to be the attraction some believed Omaha needed to make its mark as a hip destination.
But the event seemed to attract mostly locals. Even Roger Dixon, president of the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, which runs the ballpark and CenturyLink Center, noted that most of the cars in the parking lots had Nebraska or Iowa license plates.
The downtown Holiday Inn filled about 15 percent of its 114 rooms with Red Sky attendees.
"A lot of them were walk-ins," said manager Jordan Martinson. "They were mostly local people who didn't want to drive home after they had been drinking."
Robert Watson, manager of the city-owned Hilton Omaha, said the hotel was full most of the week. However, he said, that didn't include the 160 rooms that are closed for renovation.
The hotel saw an increase in business in food and drink sales at its restaurant and bar, Liberty Tavern. Watson said revenue figures were not yet available, however, and that boost was less than normally seen during concerts at the arena.
"It's tough to measure," he said. "It's their first year. Next year, I know will be better."
Jason Kulbel, who owns the Slowdown, across 13th Street from the stadium, said the festival had little impact on his business early on, but things got busy toward the end of the week.
Joe Gudenrath, executive director of the Downtown Improvement District Association, said that while the festival wasn't a big boom for downtown, it wasn't a bust, either.
"We deal with concerts all the time." Gudenrath said. "You'll always have the opportunity to make things better as the event continues to evolve."
Attendance started slow but grew as the week went on. Officials were expecting attendance to peak Friday, when a sellout crowd was expected for Jason Aldean.
Dixon was satisfied with the initial attendance figures. After all, he said, the event was in its first year, and the 100-plus degree heat index most days likely kept some people home.
"We got a few people in at noon," Dixon said, "but between 3:30 and 4 we started getting the numbers we anticipated."
"The weather was probably a factor," Dixon said. We won't know until we do it again next year."
Dixon said MECA and others involved in the festival will sit down in the next few months to study how the event went and decide what changes to make.
Some of the local bands who played during the day before sparse crowds — if you could call a couple of people a crowd — might have their fingers crossed for next year.
Nate Olson, lead singer of Omaha's Straight Outta Junior High, nonetheless expressed gratitude to the four fans who showed up at noon for their show Tuesday.
"What are your guys' names so we can get to know you all?" he asked them. "OK, Paul, Danny, Christie and Blake. We really appreciate seeing every one of your faces."
Eventually, more people filtered in to catch the remainder of the show.
Contact the writer:
402-444-3100, maggie.obrien@owh.com
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