APR 12 Contracts had already been finalized for the Marion Arts Festival last March when Gov. Kim Reynolds issued an order banning public gatherings for at least eight weeks — exactly the amount of time until the annual event was scheduled the third Saturday of May. With not enough time to transfer programming online, the […]
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APR 12
Contracts had already been finalized for the Marion Arts Festival last March when Gov. Kim Reynolds issued an order banning public gatherings for at least eight weeks — exactly the amount of time until the annual event was scheduled the third Saturday of May.
With not enough time to transfer programming online, the festival’s organizers had no other choice but to flat-out cancel the event that has been a Marion mainstay since 1992.
Fortunately, Director Deb Bailey said, enough sponsors remained for the festival to reimburse the artists for the booth fees they had already paid.
“The sponsors have an investment in supporting a project that works to entertain an audience, helps to promote Uptown Marion and uses creativity to be useful in the community,” she said of the sponsors’ loyalty.
Many sponsors also stuck with Iowa City’s Summer of the Arts, which produces the Friday Night Concert Series, Free Movie Series and summer staples, such as the Iowa Arts Festival and Iowa City Jazz Festival.
“We had a number of sponsors that we had carry over to this year,” said Summer of the Arts Executive Director Lisa Barnes. “With going to virtual programming, we were able to keep those presenting level sponsors last year, as well as individual sponsors.”
The absence of live events resulted in a loss of $190,300 in receipts and sponsorships, not including support from the University of Iowa, which concluded in June as it faced its own pandemic-related issues, Ms. Barnes said.
The Linn County Fair Association also depends on its main event — the yearly summer fair held in Central City — for the bulk of its annual income.
When the 2020 fair was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, the board applied for a federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan to cover the salaries of the organization’s part-time employees. The fair also received $75,000 — the highest funding level — from the Iowa County Fairs Relief Program launched last October by Ms. Reynolds and the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) with $6 million of federal CARES Act funds.
Adapting to the situation
“A big part of our mission is building community through the arts,” Ms. Barnes said. “Just having that opportunity to engage and interact with your friends and neighbors and enjoy live music or a movie — I think everybody’s really missing that.”
To keep the community engaged, Summer of the Arts adapted its programming to adhere to health guidelines.
Friday Night Concerts were presented online, ranging from a low of 2,300 views to a high of 9,000.
“That’s pretty darn good,” Ms. Barnes said. “That’s more than we’d have at an in-person concert.”
The organization teamed up with City Channel 4 to stream video coverage of events. It also partnered with Prairie Lights bookstore to present a virtual Black Authors Panel for the Soul & Blues Festival.
The Free Movie Series was replaced by drive-in movie screenings at the Iowa City Municipal Airport where spectators watched movies projected on a building from inside their vehicles or just outside their cars wearing a mask.
Although the Linn County Fair canceled its grandstand events and shut down the fairgrounds to the public last year, the board found new ways to keep 4-H and FFA members involved. A virtual fair included livestock shows, contests for exhibits and videos recorded by 4-H, FFA and board members.
“They still had their shows, they were just a little bit different. They weren’t in person,” said Heidi Steffen, Linn County Fair marketing manager and co-vice president of the fair’s association.
Looking ahead
As COVID-19 vaccinations increased and cases stabilized, event organizers cautiously made plans for this summer.
Summer of the Arts continued its Friday Night Concert Series virtually through June. They worked with City Channel 4 and ImOn Communications to livestream the concerts from the Pedestrian Mall in downtown Iowa City.
Like Summer of the Arts, the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival had to make the painful decision to cancel its in-person events in 2020, including its Fourth of July fireworks celebration.
Karol Shepherd, Freedom Festival events and marketing director, said they are moving forward with a combination of in-person and hybrid events this summer.
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Timing everything in bringing back events
By the time summer came along, it was obvious that people were ready for live events after a year of social distancing and quarantining.
“We had record crowds at a lot of our events; some of our in-person events we were trying to be safe, but we can’t take credit for the timing of everything,” Freedom Festival Executive Director Karol Shepherd said. “In June and July, we thought we were done with COVID, and it came at a time when people were ready to be out and enough with it. So, the timing couldn’t have been any better.”
Some events, like the Tribute to Heroes Dinner, continued to be private with just honorees, their guests and sponsors. But an added online component drew more interest than ever.
“Instead of having 400-500 people in the room, we ended up having over 5,000 views online,” Ms. Shepherd said.
Fourth of July events were also scaled back but were well-attended. The annual car show, which was moved to the Kernels stadium parking lot, had a record 176 participating classic cars and thousands of spectators, while the drive-thru pancake breakfast served more than 1,000 meals.
The day concluded with a live fireworks display in downtown Cedar Rapids. Although all other programming was cut out, the show was the largest display in the festival’s history, Ms. Shepherd said.
“People came out to the bridge or the amphitheater,” Ms. Shepherd said. “They say you can’t make everyone happy, but I felt like we almost did. I heard nothing but positive comments.”
The summer also started strong for Summer of the Arts, with attendance higher at the Iowa City Jazz Festival than in 2019, Executive Director Lisa Barnes said.
“Everyone was so excited to hear live music again and be dancing down on the Ped Mall,” Ms. Barnes said of the festival held over Fourth of July weekend.
By the time the Iowa Arts Festival was held in mid-August, COVID-19 numbers were again increasing, which likely impacted attendance numbers, she said.
Although the organization lost several large sponsors in 2021, fundraising efforts for 2022 are in full swing.
“We are hoping to get back to some semblance of normalcy in 2022,” Ms. Barnes said.
