Title
Cancellation of the Orland Park Brewfest
History
In 2019, the Brewfest was introduced in place of the narrowly focused Harvest Hoedown. Held under a large tent Crescent Park, the night featured over 40 beer and spirits samples and was attended by 334 participants. The evening of the event included heavy rain and a threat of thunderstorms. In keeping with safe weather protocols, if lightening would have occurred as forecast, the event would have been postponed or cancelled.
With a tent rental cost of $6,682.24, and the risk of postponement or cancellation due to lightening, staff sought a safer location to host the Brewfest. The Public Works garage was identified as a large location capable of hosting 500+ for the Brewfest. Due to the pandemic, staff were unable to secure a liquor license from the State, resulting in the cancellation of the 2020 Brewfest.
In 2021, the Brewfest was successfully held in the Public Works garage with 350 in attendance. Staff built upon this success and the trend in micro-brewery popularity hosting 437 attendees in 2022. In 2023, the microbrewery trend, and the Brewfest seems to have peaked as attendance dropped to 285.
The 2023 Brewfest earned $34,301.87 in revenue, including a $20,000 naming sponsor. Program expenses totaled $22,724. Staffing expenses, including weekday set-up, day of event part-time and salaried staff, preparation and clean-up of the Public Works garage totaled approximately $17,187 resulting in an overall loss of $5,609. Additionally, in 2025, the Public Works garage will be undergoing a large capital project making the PW facility unavailable for 2 years.
Due to the financial loss, and staff intensive nature of the Brewfest for a relatively small number of attendees, staff propose canceling the 2024 Brewfest. The budgeted expenses of $28,700 would instead be utilized to support the Centennial Park West Concert Series. Specifically, the funds would be utilized for backline, a stage manager, stagehand, ...
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