HomeMy WebLinkAbout021623 Bridge Closure and Olympic Music Festival________________________________
ALERT: BE CAUTIOUS This email originated outside the organization. Do not open attachments or click on links if you are not expecting them.
________________________________
Hi Kate, Heidi and Greg,
The Olympic Music Festival learned of the Summer weekend bridge closures and wanted to share our thoughts and get some questions answered.
2023 marks our fortieth anniversary on the Olympic Peninsula, and our eighth year offering concerts in Port Townsend. This summer we are offering 8 concerts at Fort Worden State Park.
Four of them will take place during currently scheduled bridge closure weekends, August 12 & 13 and August 19 & 20.
Will there be county or state grant funds to offset the effects on tourism in Jefferson and Clallam County?
Will highway projects on other major routes to the Olympic Peninsula be staggered so that alternate routes are accessible? Such as Highway 101 or Whidbey Island Ferry Routes?
Are these dates announced 100% set? What are the chances this information will change? And, how early had these dates been chosen?
In future considerations, 6 months notice is not congruent with tourist towns that see accommodations booked 9-12 months in advance and draw heavily on destination weddings, family reunions
and other group bookings that begin planning early. We release our dates in January so that out of towers can book accommodations early, even though our program details and tickets
are released in May.
What we are doing: We sent a survey to our subscribers on Friday, February 10 to find out how this directly affects our regular attendees. We anticipate Kitsap County attendees will
not seek accommodations, and will choose to forego those concert weekends. King County attendees may be more likely to consider accommodations, but they also are accustomed to Port
Townsend being a day trip destination.
Some relevant numbers:
In 2022, 14% of our Washington State attendees came from Kitsap County, and 14% from King County. 6.5% of all attendees traveled from out of state.
In 2019, our last full season prior to COVID, we saw 36% of our Washington state attendees coming from King County, and 18% from Kitsap County.
Historically, 5-10% of our annual attendees travel from outside of Washington State.
Please let me know if any additional information would be helpful for current or future discussions with WSDOT.
My cell phone: 360-821-9968
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Emilie Baker | Managing Director
Olympic Music Festival
PO Box 897
Port Townsend, WA 98368
emilie@olympicmusicfestival.org <mailto:emilie@olympicmusicfestival.org>
Phone: Tues-Thurs 10 AM - 3 PM
360.385.9699
In-person: by appointment