Heritagefest

faces

uncertain

future

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Having endured bad weather and an increasingly sour economy for the last three years, New Ulm's Heritagefest is now at a crossroads.

The board of directors for the annual cultural festival is soon expected to choose between calling on area businesses and groups for support or folding its tents for good.

Two consecutive years of hot, humid weather kept crowds away from the gates in 2001 and 2002 and a lagging economy is believed the cause of losses in 2003.

During 2001 and 2002, the festival's parent company, Heritagefest, Inc., spent its fund reserves to help write off mounting losses. Now, with those funds gone, the company is faced with adopting a new financial strategy that Executive Director Kathleen Backer said will rely more on sponsors than in years past.

"All of this is predicated upon success in raising new sources of revenue," Backer said.

Oppressive heat and humidity kept many would-be festgoers at home in the past, causing losses of $72,000 in 2001 and $62,000 in 2002. Backer said Heritagefest lost $40,000 this past summer. The financial trouble comes just as Heritagefest had its best year since 2000, which Backer said was the most profitable year in the festival's 29-year history.

Backer said sponsorships weren't ideas Heritagefest even thought about until recently. Organizers attracted seven more sponsors for this summer's festival, she said.

The financial plan calls for $100,000 a year for at least the next two years, depending heavily on successful commitments from whatever sponsors organizers are able to attract. It will also be looking at cutting some of its expenses

Heritagefest President Hugh Nierengarten said the board of directors is going to vote on whether or not the festival moves forward. He said the board feels a need to be financially responsible to entertainers, vendors and others. He said the campaign for sponsorship will need to come within six weeks because Heritagefest has many different pieces that need to come together well in advance of its actual start date.

"It is unfair to expect people to commit European performers to come to a festival that may not happen," Nierengarten said.

Nierengarten, a Heritagefest board member since 1982, said the festival has fallen on hard times before. In its infancy, Heritagefest survived with the help of its suppliers, who carried the organization until it was able to pay its bills. Deficits in those days totaled into the tens of thousands, he said.

"In our assessment, it was easy to blame the weather," Backer said. "But this year, we had ideal weather. Now, the issue is the economy. People are being more conservative on what they spend. This is also a busier society because there's so much to do. That really puts us at a crossroads."

Backer said raising the prices of admission and food items is something organizers don't want to do again, because the price of admission into Heritagefest jumped up this past summer.

She emphasized that asking for community sponsors "is not unique to the festival business. We're getting late into the game."

She said organizers have approached local businesses and other organizations for two years of support.

Already, the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce has given $15,000 of the proceeds from its Hermann the German bobblehead fund-raiser to Heritagefest for each of the two years. The New Ulm Business and Retail Association has also donated $10,000 a year, Backer said.

Organizers are also talking with several other local organizations about making donations, but Backer would not discuss anything further, saying none of the commitments are confirmed. She indicated Heritagefest is looking at hotels and other business and organizations that match organizers' goals.

Backer said sponsorship for Heritagefest will likely appear on stages and entertainment.

The Minnesota Office of Tourism recently nominated Heritagefest as one of the top 100 festivals along with Austin's annual Spamfest.

When asked outright if Heritagefest will return in 2004, Backer said, "At this point, I'm cautiously optimistic. Our board action is coming in November and we're working diligently to put the plan in place."

Jeanne Ahlbrecht, president of the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce, said Heritagefest "is very important because it brings economic dollars and tourism that is important to us. This shows the tourism dollar turns over seven times in our community."

Said Nierengarten, "We have a lot of good people involved in the festival, and if we can get them on board, then I believe Heritagefest will pull through but at the same time, the board wants to be responsible and realistic and we're not going to make commitments we can't keep."