Looking for something to do tonight? Velocity in College Station is hosting a slew of metal bands tonight. Music starts at 7pm. Bands playing are:

Doomsday Brigade

Solomon

The City of Bryan has announced final numbers for attendance and revenue for 2011’s Texas Reds Festival, held in downtown Bryan Oct. 7th-8th. The numbers, well, they are somewhat mixed. According to the story in The Eagle last month, actual attendance was below the city’s estimates by nearly a third, while revenue brought in by the festival climbed $70,000 from last year, but still left the festival $140,000 in the red. The City of Bryan views this as a success. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a success, but it isn’t exactly a failure either.

I was one of the most vocal opponents of the City’s decision to charge a $5 admission fee to Texas Reds. At my former home for this column in The Eagle, I predicted fewer people would come. I predicted that the City should prepare for a financial disaster. Let’s restate the facts. 2/3 of expected attendance, lost $140,000. Most municipally-organized festivals operate at a loss. They are public services provided by local governments to its citizens. That said, in our nation’s current economic situation, a municipality bragging about only losing $140,000 on a venture that citizens still had to pay to participate in, well, to me that’s not something to be encouraged by.

Texas Reds has two issues that I think hurt their attendance this year. For starters, it is NEVER bright to schedule versus Aggie Football. The Ags weren’t at home, but many fans traveled to Lubbock for the game or found a place to watch it on television. I was downtown for the Saturday night of Texas Reds and it was a ghost town. Some smart vendors brought TV’s so they could show the game to festival goers, but that was not enough to keep folks downtown during the game. Friday night’s attendance was strong, bolstered by the City dropping the $5 cover for that night only, since it was also First
Friday.

The other issue I find with Texas Reds is that the festival doesn’t know exactly what it is. On its face, Texas Reds is a celebration of local wine and steak. Food and drink tickets for an average family of four run are more expensive than a good dinner out. By making the festival free and offering some amenities to families, the City helped to offset the impression that it was after a higher socio-economic attendee for this event. Adding a cover charge helped to greater shift the demographic of attendee farther towards the well-heeled and less towards a true public service for citizens.

Right now I think Texas Reds has an identity crisis that it must confront before it can ever hope to break even, let alone turn a
profit. Who is the festival for? Is it right to continue to lose six figures each year for an event that is designed to appeal more to a certain population? Is it better to focus more on the food aspect and leave the entertainment quotient well enough alone? The City may have stumbled upon a solution, by offering the more high dollar higher brow stuff on the day with the cover charge while programming more to families on the day without the cover charge. Whatever the City decides it must do to retool Texas Reds, it is encouraging that City does not listen so much to its naysayers who criticize any monetary loss in the name of public works. However, I hope the City continues to assess Texas Reds honestly to find a way to make the festival
profitable while maintaining its attractiveness and accessibility to a wide range of citizens.

Kelly Minnis is the editor of 979Represent in print and online; plays in tons of local bands; co-operates Sinkhole Texas Inc and Loudfest; and somehow still finds time to be a soccer dad and A&M employee.

For nearly four years I wrote Poptones, a music column for the Bryan/College Station Eagle, our local newspaper. I have decided to move the this column to its new and rightful home and 979Represent. Expect to see this column weekly around here now.