The French Quarter Festival just announced that “approximately 512,000” people attended the festival, setting a new attendance record for the festival. Or, maybe 509,000 as the press release claims (without the “approximately” caveat) on page 2. Either way, this year’s attendance topped last year’s of 441,000 (approximately, I believe they said last year, though it’s asserted as a hard number as well on page 2 of this document). I’m not sure I understand records set by comparing approximate numbers.
Because I (am I’m sure, others) have raised questions in the past about how a festival that doesn’t charge admission and has countless points of entry determines its attendance, the press release provides it:
*Attendance numbers are calculated based on actual counts (that are adjusted down by percentage to account for repeat entrances and exits). Fess Security counts at entry and exit points of major stages. This number does not include attendance at the festival’s Royal, Bourbon, Chartres and French Market stages, Battle of the Bands, Dancing at Dusk, Courtyard Tours, Cathedral Concert, Opera at the Cabildo, and other special events. The organization is pleased to report record sales of food, beverages and merchandise.
The efforts to account for the variables that might affect the attendance only underline the degree to which that number is unstable. To help bolster that number, the press release includes additional stats – how many people rode the ferry to the festival this year vs. last year, the hotel occupancy rates, and the amount of beer and crawfish consumed. All of which are equally unreliable where establishing records are concerned.
They do suggest that the French Quarter Fest had a good year, and record or not, there were a hell of a lot of people out there. On Sunday, the crowd for Trombone Shorty was so unmanageably large that we bailed on it for the slightly more docile crowds at the Mint. It’s now big enough that it needs to do some re-thinking. Trying to eat in Woldenberg Park and Jackson Square after 3 on Sunday required significant effort and commitment.
The emphasis on records and numbers is puzzling, though. Why make an issue of the one thing you can’t prove in your post-fest press release? Is it a competition with Jazz Fest? After all, these number suggest that an average of 170,667 people attended daily – 50,000 people than Jazz Fest’s biggest recorded day (Jazz Fest no longer releases its attendance figures, so we can’t be sure of its attendance in recent years).
Or, is the French Quarter Fest simply married to growth as a narrative? It gets bigger and bigger because it can? Because growth is considered a sign of health? Considering the crowds, it might be time to reevaluate growth-for-growth’s-sake (if that is what’s happening). It might be time to think more about the quality of the experience because it doesn’t matter if there’s really good food 20 feet away if you have to wrestle your way to it. It doesn’t matter if there’s good music to hear if you can’t see the stage. Is being bigger serving attendees better, or is it serving something else?
It’s likely that the beautiful weather helped the attendance this year, but blaming a good year on the weather is unfair to the festival. It has had great attendance the last few years, and it’s hard to imagine that it wouldn’t have drawn at least as well as it did in previous years were the weather less glorious. The French Quarter Festival was unquestionably successful at many levels; now it’s time to consider how to make it a better experience – for the musicians as well as the audience.
