Fair Saint Louis / South by Southwest

This is a follow-up to a previous post about ArtPrize in Grand Rapids and the importance of big events leaving some kind of legacy beyond collected sales tax revenue.

Big events also need to be collaborative.  Austin, Texas has an extremely popular event called South by Southwest that incorporates three different events into one. 

There's a music and media conference that has about 2000 performers at almost 100 stages around downtown Austin.  This means there is certainly music you will like if you look hard enough.  You'll have to explore every block every hour though.  There is also a giant music industry conference with trade shows, promotions, handshakes, contracts, and all sorts of networking.  It all blends together.

There's a film festival coupled with a conference where you can explore every theater in town and see as many films as you can, and attend lectures and talks about the film industry. 

There's an 'interactive festival' with knowledge workers of all sorts gathered in all sorts of innovative ways to talke about new emerging technologies. 

The event has gotten bigger every year and swells Austin every spring with talented young people excited about the city and the things happening there.  There was a $110 million dollar impact to the local economy from the 2008 event.  The last two years have been even bigger.  National media figures were pulled in for exclusive coverage.  NPR's "All Songs Considered" did an indepth series of podcasts on it in 2010.

The key thing to consider about South by Southwest is that while the three big events are independently organized each benefits from the others and none are drowned out.  Each pulls people in for different reasons, but the overlapping synergy from the other two events increases the attraction.

St. Louis has the potential for something big if it can pool its event planning a little smarter.  There are events all year from different organizations.  July has two major events from Celebrate St. Louis.  There's the annual Fair St. Louis which takes place over Independence Day weekend and the Live on the Levee concert series that spans the whole month.  Generally the Live on the Levee bands are big name out of towners playing on the Arch grounds, but there's no reason why it couldn't be more of a local music festival.  Adding variety to the music offering would attract more people.  The event could promote local talent and be less like a super-bowl half-time show.  The Arch grounds are big enough for multiple stages.

Cinema St. Louis runs their St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase at the same time.  Maybe it could be bigger than just one theater.  Maybe every theater in town could run one or two older St. Louis films. 

Offer a film map of the city showing people how to get to famous sites.  Placemake scenes in St. Louis as famous as the 40 Stairs in Busan or the Art Museum in Philly where Rocky raised his arms,

 What if all of July was made "Celebrate St. Louis Month?"  Get everybody into it.  Trivia nights at local bars can focus on local history.  The History Museum could hire some local actors to reenact historic events where they originally happened.  You could get a list of where each event will be taking place and when and try to see them all, maybe stick around for the follow-up lecture by a local historian.

Taste of St. Louis is foremost a celebration of local food.  It's one of those events that could take place any time of year.  Why does it have to be in October?  It if was moved to July, it could set up shop on the mall and tie into Fair St. Louis and Live on the Levee.  Celebrate local music.  Celebrate local food.   Celebrate the benefits of two big budgets sharing expenses.  Taste of St. Louis is a great event, but also tries to be a wine and blues festival.  St. Louis has a Wine Festival and a Big Muddy Blues Festival.  These three events could be at the same time. 

With local music on the landing and the arch ground, local food on the mall, and local film and history throughout the region, people would feel encouraged to explore.  A full month of activity downtown would bring people in from the suburbs and from out of town.  Louisville has been offering reunion parties in other cities for their diaspora.  A Celebrate St. Louis Month could be an at-home reunion party for the St. Louis diaspora.   It may not trigger boomerang migration, but it would keep the connections alive.