Tall Ships Sails Into A Hole
Word is now out that Tacoma’s Tall Ships 2008 is $500k in the hole. Attendance was less than expected. Ticket sales were less than expected. Everyone blames the weather. According to the organizers, they’ll find the money and pay everybody back. How they’ll do that … isn’t exactly clear.
Who’s excited for next time!
Link to The News Tribune
12 comments
V Vidiot August 22, 2008
WOW! New edgier headlines. I like it. It must be Friday.
A altered chords August 22, 2008
Expecting 700,000 and only getting 300,000 is a severely missed forecast. The economy/gas prices didn’t help.
I recall July 4th being great weather. Was the weather bad for Tall ships?
M Mofo from the Hood August 22, 2008
Next time bring a ship that has a casino on it!
J Jason Hu August 22, 2008
Not surprised…I brought the family to Tall Ships and was really disappointed. We got there early on July 4th and expected to be able to walk on the majority of ships, but to no avail. They all set sail for the high seas of the puget sound. There was no clear information on their website about schedules or no clear info onsite, except a sign that said they had gone to sea.
I think the event was very poorly ran, end to end. The event never gained as much momentum like it had before. They clearly misforecasted their attendance.
I I'm for Change August 22, 2008
This is too bad, but I hope they do the festival again. I was a volunteer on the water, but I heard good things about the 3 villages. The event planners realize changes need to made, including how ships were in Commencement Bay sailing instead of at dock. People I talked to enjoyed the event.
The weather could have been better during the day. It was nice in the evening when the rain stopped.
I think this event is good for Tacoma. It brings people to downtown, the city gets mentioned during other Tall Ship events, etc.
R RR Anderson August 22, 2008
was never a fan of tall ships. what the hell has tall ships got to do with Tacoma? We’re all about rail yo. events that count on people piling up in the SUV and motoring anywhere are in death spiral. Time to focus on the hyper local. 2008 is the age of chalk.
K Ken August 22, 2008
Just because of that headline, I will keep coming back to Exit133.com every day.
C CA August 22, 2008
I think the lack of the big major ships like the Russian and Mexican vessels we had last time was the reason for the lower attendance. Those huge boats are they major crowd pleasers, and they simply werent around this time.
T tom waits August 22, 2008
RR @ 7: why do you think the rail came to tacoma in the first place?
S snoopy August 23, 2008
I’m going to have to agree with CA on this one. The larger ships would have definitely helped the event. Plus the lines to get onto th ships were fairly long.
O onbroadway August 26, 2008
I attended, but did not purchase a ticket, but I’m sure they counted people like me (us) in the count, too. The free Freedom Fair had to put a dent, rather than help. I liked some of the side-attractions. The Magic Lantern Show at the Pythian Temple was also under-attanded, but bey interesting. I knew Tacoma had a shipbuilding hitory, but I had no idea the huge volume of ships Tacoma pushed out. The Black Pirate with Dennis James was also a winner. I knew several TS workers and volunteers scratching their heads, though.
E Erik S August 27, 2008
Great comic, RR.