Oktoberfest Organizers Ask Tourist Commission For $60,000
Oktoberfest 2018. File image.
Robert Moore
Herald Staff
[email protected]
The Harrodsburg-Mercer County Tourist Commission is considering a request for more funding for Oktoberfest.
At their regular meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 12, Greg Souder, a member of the board that organizes Oktoberfest, asked the tourist commission for what Souder called “a decent amount of money”—$60,000 for 2025. That’s on top of the $60,000 the tourist commission already dedicated to the festival in their 2024 budget.
The tourist commission board of directors tabled making any decision on the funding request until they received more information, including about the organization’s plans to hire a director.
Souder said the organizers hope to expand the festival down Chiles Street in addition to Kinderland, including adding a third stage for singer-songwriters. He said the additional money is necessary not for hiring bands, but for paying for the production, including the digital screens on both of the stages, which Souder called, “the wow, the pop and the sizzle.”
He told the tourist commission the event production service, Studio 46, “gave” Oktoberfest organizer their technology last year.
“They knew what they were doing,” Souder said. “We drank the Kool-Aid. We want them back,” he said. “All the bands want them back.
“This is Rupp Arena level stuff,” Souder said. He said producing that show this year would require more money.
Noel Turner, who serves on the Oktoberfest board with Souder and Allen Goldie, attended the meeting remotely. Turner said he emailed a copy of economic impact report and a budget as well as a chart for revenue and expenses. Turner said the total budget is more than $328,000, with marketing accounting for 13 percent of total cost and 43 percent for staging. The festival takes in $121,000 in government sponsorships, which accounts for nearly 37 percent of income, with $90,000 being taken in private sponsorships as well as $90,500 in event sales and $24,700 in event rentals.
“This is one of the bigger events in the state of Kentucky for Oktoberfest,” Souder told the board last week. Oktoberfest drew 24,000 visits in 2023, the most recent year for which attendance figures are available. The festival has come a long way from its beginning, when Souder said he’d he thought it would be great to draw a few hundred people.
There have been a lot of changes in how downtown events, not just Oktoberfest, are organized. Last year, Downtown Harrodsburg, formerly known as the Harrodsburg First Main Street Program, closed. Downtown Harrodsburg’s, executive director, Kaitlyn Harder, was hired as community development and events coordinator for the tourist commission.
Other events Downtown Harrodsburg organized—Friday Nights On Main, Trick-or-Treating On Main and Christmas On Main—are now being hosted by the tourist commission. Oktoberfest is being hosted by the former members of the Downtown Harrodsburg Oktoberfest committee. On Tuesday, Souder said the board has nearly finished drafting the articles of incorporation. He said one of their goals is to make the festival self-sufficient but said they were “cranking up the marketing big time” for Oktoberfest.
“We need to know yesterday,” Souder said Wednesday.
The tourist commission took no action on the request at their Wednesday meeting, saying they needed more information before making a decision.
Several board members questioned an analysis provided by the Oktoberfest organizers. The analysis, which used artificial intelligence, seemed to show that the would produce $4.5 million in revenue locally for lodging and dining by drawing 10,000 visitors per day.
Board member Stacey Maynard—who also serves as the administrative officer for the City of Harrodsburg—said she wanted to see an analysis “based on reality and not ChatGPT.”
Maynard said she also wanted Oktoberfest expenses more broken down than what had been presented to the board, including any possible salaries. Several board members questioned one line item in the information Oktoberfest provided—$36,100 for administration.
Board member Leigh Lopez noted the tourist commission was already contributing $60,000 for Oktoberfest.
“What’s to stop every other event from coming next month?” Lopez asked.
The board will hold a special-called meeting on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 1 p.m.
