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Heritage & FreedomFest revenues dip; staff to test geofencing metrics and refine vendor outreach
Summary
Tourism staff reported Heritage & FreedomFest revenues totaled $114,510.67, down from about $124,000 the prior year; staff explained vendor fee structure and said they are exploring geofencing analytics to estimate attendance and repeat visitors while addressing privacy concerns and vendor communication problems via the Zap platform.
Tourism staff told the Cultural Arts Commission in August that the 4-day O'Fallon Heritage & FreedomFest drew strong participation but generated lower revenue than the prior year, reporting $114,510.67 compared with roughly $124,000 the year before.
Staff described the vendor-fee structure: a $50 application fee plus a separate vendor fee tied to vendor type and space size (food vendors pay more; nonprofit food vendors pay less); spaces are sold in 10-by-10 increments and larger vehicles must purchase appropriate space (staff used a 30-foot requirement for some food trucks as an example). The commission clarified that the city does not take a percentage of vendor sales.
The tourism team said it is evaluating event software that can geofence the festival footprint and estimate attendance using aggregated device signals and heat-based measures to provide more accurate counts, repeat-visitor percentages and average length of stay. When a commissioner raised privacy concerns, staff said the data are general and anonymous, not tied to named individuals.
An artist/vendor reported missing communication after applying through Zap, the platform used for artist/vendor applications and FITA registration; staff said some applicants had difficulty with Zap and that some submissions arrived separately through city channels, which staff will reconcile.
The tourism team also flagged that some carnival operators reported lower activity across events this year, and staff suggested expanding targeted marketing (including outreach to Columbia, Mo.) and experimenting with wristbands or mailed packets to better estimate attendance and encourage participation. No policy changes were adopted at the meeting; staff said they will continue testing software options and refining application communications ahead of upcoming events.
