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Florida Orchestra recaps Symphony by the Sea; attendance below projections
Summary
Florida Orchestra staff told the Downtown Development Board that Symphony by the Sea (June 6) fell short of projections — organizers tabulated ~1,565 attendees while PlacerAI estimated 1,200; staff cited a late date change and off-season timing and said next year’s concert will return to May.
Florida Orchestra representatives told the Downtown Development Board on Aug. 3 that Symphony by the Sea drew fewer attendees than planned and outlined lessons learned. Lori Osborne, vice president of strategic partnerships, said the performance on June 6 at the BayCare Sound was free and included patriotic and movie-theme programming; she told trustees the orchestra had tabulated about 1,565 attendees while PlacerAI estimated 1,200.
“Because of that last minute change [of date], I think that we didn't quite achieve the goal that we had hoped,” Osborne said, describing a rescheduling from an originally planned May date to June because of a Country Thunder conflict. Anita Samaru, vice president of finance and administration, said the event yielded roughly 150 pounds of donated goods for the Salvation Army and produced more than 70,000 social media views and roughly 46,000 cumulative reach.
Board members praised the outreach but urged moving the concert back into the regular season to increase school and youth participation; the presenters said they plan to return the event to a May date next year to boost attendance and to continue building community partnerships.
