Officials pleased

with Heritagefest's

attendance, revenues

Event draws 36,800; revenues hit $570,000

By GUY PRIEL

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The 26th annual Heritagefest broke all-time records, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday.

Actual figures will not be known for several weeks, but they will be released to the public during Heritagefest's annual meeting in October, Executive Director Leo Berg said.

Actual figures aren't finalized until all the bills have been paid and all food and beverage vendor tickets have been cashed out.

"We are up over last year in all categories, and we had a good year last year," Berg said. "There was an increase in revenue by as much as 7 percent. That may not sound like a lot, but when you are talking about large numbers, a percentage means quite a bit."

Good weather produced the crowds and the money they spent at the festival.

"When you have good weather, people tend to stay longer," Berg said.

For the six days of the festival, total revenues were close to $570,000, Berg said.

Berg hopes that the expenses will fall within Heritagefest's budget so there will be a little surplus to cover expenses for next year's festival.

Of the total revenue for the six days, about $320,000, or approximately 56 percent, was received on the two Saturdays, which tend to be the busiest days.

"We normally average 60 percent of all revenue on Saturdays, and we seem pretty consistent in that respect," Berg said.

Approximately 36,800 people attended the six-day event, with a majority of those admissions on Saturdays.

"Because more people are working, they set aside Saturday as their family day to attend events like this," Berg said. " So Saturdays are huge for us."

During Heritagefest, participants had the opportunity to register for 11 different raffle prizes.

The grand prize, two round-trip tickets to Frankfurt, Germany on Icelandair, was won by Robert Gulden of New Ulm.

Other raffle winners are:

* Rich Arp of Omaha, Neb., a 20 inch color television.

* Roland Seboldt of Bloomington, a one night stay at the New Ulm Holiday Inn.

* Jerry Kahle of Cologne, a compact disc player with radio.

* Jerry Bleick of New Ulm and Harvey Roeder of San Mateo, Calif., a Schell's Brewery sweatshirt.

* Mary Ann Linz of Richmond, a 2000 limited edition Heritagefest stein.

* Andy Kroneberger of Spicer, and Karen Hays of Tyler, a collector Schell's truck.

* Thomas Leske of New Ulm, a $25 gift certificate to the Sausage Shop.

* Kevin Aerickson of West St. Paul, Antonia Valadez of Mankato, Kendra Garrett of Plymouth, and Lawrence Janzen of Butterfield, Schell's Brewery t-shirts.

* Gail Prechel of Byron, a Heritagefest 2000 birdhouse.

* Sharron Dick of Wabasha, a $100 savings bond from Alliance Bank.