The fair is in town!! Well not yet. Tho I rarely go unless their is a concert I like, I do appreciate the work its goes into holding the fair.
My issue isnt with the fair but the lack of this Gem of space Allentown never uses. It is used 6 days a year!!! 46 acreas of unused space. Why???
Musicfest in Bethlehem has a 10 day festival bringing in over a million people. Does the fair even break 100k of visitors?? Celticfest, Oktoberfest, and Christkindlmarkt are huge events.
Easton has Baconfest, Garlicfest and a ton of other things going on.
Macungie has great car shows, and events at their park all summer long that draw thousands to their little town.
Even Pottstown has a car show every few weeks that they block their downtown. The businesses appear to be packed and its alot of fun.
Back to the Fairgrounds
Why arent their concerts atleast 3 times a year, besides fair time? The venue holds like 15k people which is more than the PPL's 10-11k. There is ample parking on the grounds if needed as well.
Too me everyone around Allentown is making money off of the events it holds. Sure there is like one small car show that draws mayb 200 cars and at best a couple thousand people. Brews,Blues and BBQ and some Latino events have a decent draw. However, many people from outside the city are just not going to come downtown when they dont feel safe. The focus is always downtown and Im sorry thats not where your going to bring in people or money besides the PPL Center.
The Allentown fair has a committee that appears to refuse anyone access to using the grounds. Sure AG hall is open, and draws people, but during the summer people want to be outside.
Here's a simple idea Im sure will get denied, but say every tuesday, bring in as many food trucks and beer trucks as you can. Its a start to get people in the city. Tho it may not generate alot of money to the city it will help local vendors.
Bethlehem kills Allentown when it comes to fun activites and events. The city makes tons of money and so do their restaurants and businesses.
But if you want a good flag raising, Allentown is the spot. I think they are up to something like 78 countries they raise a flag for. Always atleast 15 people show up. Its a hoot.
15 comments:
Abe, let me remind you about the Farmer's Market, open Thursday, Friday and Saturday.... They fill a good portion of that lot every week. Throw in the Ritz and the Fairgrounds Hotel, and you have activity every night. For me, and also for the surrounding neighbors, thank you, but the grounds are used enough.
Im aware of the farmers market. That utilizes maybe a third of the entire property. The Ritz however doesnt draw like it used too, and neither does the Hotel. Ive never gone to the hotel once in my life. When people go to those two establishments only those two establishments benefit. I disagree that the 46 acreas is used nearly enough. I cant complain about how shitty Allentown has become when there is 46 acreas in a decent part of town that barely gets used. Throw a big event once and awhile and draw 10-20k people. Allentown isnt a destination like other places. Its the same local people spending their money and nothing has or will change.
I have to agree with Abe. Mike you make some good points but thats alot of land that could hold some big events. People want to be outside during the summer. Throw some big outdoor event and the market, Ritz and hotel will 100% benefit more.
The farmers market and Ritz, although popular, aren’t getting to the issues that I believe are being illustrated here. Allentown is behind on events. Bethlehem and Easton draw crowds because they are well executed and safe events. The city has a team of two or three pulling off the events. The fact is no one really wants to come to Allentown. We could do much better.
I personally love the fair but I see your point. Why not have a huge food festival like easton does, or a couple summer concerts.
From the original post: "My issue isn't with the fair but the lack of this Gem of space Allentown never uses."
Abe - You speak about the Fairgrounds property as if the City of Allentown owns it. They don't.
As an Allentown resident, I am very grateful for that. If the City did own it, they would have long ago developed it in some bland way for "affordable housing" or some other project covering the political buzzwords of the day.
As it is, the owners of the Fairgrounds property seem happy with the return they are getting and have managed to maintain and improve upon a treasure that's located within the city, but thankfully not owned by it.
I know it isnt city owned. I just wish it was used more. Your probably right if the city owned it, there would be unaffordable housing built.
Allentown’s biggest special event actually took place this past weekend at J.Bernie Crum Stadium! About 20,000 attendees over 2 days. Here’s the key . . . Those crowds are about 75% out of towners who dropped plenty of NEW dollars into the city and nearby suburbs.
Hard to believe, but this city and media largely ignored the whole thing! I highly doubt anyone reading here even knows what I’m talking about.
1:05 - Great comment! I happened to be out on Saturday night, and the Wendy’s drive thru was packed at 11:45 at night.
That could have been from Dorney, but more likely was from people attending JBC, since the stadium lights were still on when I drove past the stadium.
I’m not sure if Yocco’s extended their hours, but I wonder if there was any attempt by the city to promote downtown and try to draw some of the people at the stadium to visit there. I doubt it, since I’m often shocked that many of the Hamilton Street restaurants are closed after a regularly-scheduled hockey game. I just don’t see a lot of effort on the part of those restaurants or the city to encourage the out-of-towners to linger.
BTW, the Wendy’s drive thru was the one at Cedar Crest, between the bypass with Hamilton. I should have been clearer
Drum corp?? And if im right. Yea no one really acknowledges the event. I completely forgot about it myself
You are right, Abe! That drum corps event has been held here annually for 48 years now, bringing in nearly 200 million new dollars to the community. That gigantic crowd and participants have come here from all over North America and several foreign countries SOLEY for this event. It is clearly the biggest “new dollars” convention Allentown has ever had! Who knew?
The mayor sure as hell doesnt.
The facilities at the fairgrounds, including the farmers market and Ag Hall are great draws for the city and neighborhood- but, most neighbors would agree the property is severely underutilized. This conversation has been going on for years. To their credit, the fairgrounds does have food trucks by 17th st Wednesday evenings all summer long. They also had some small concerts at the venue near 20th & Liberty. Small steps that are apppreciated.
Portions of the lot are used for parking by LVHN 17th Street, William Allen High School and Phoebe for 50 of the 52 weeks in the year. Decades ago there were concerts other than fair concerts, but independent promoters were squeezed out by Livenation. Booking acts that could fill the grandstand is a huge financial risk. I remember a fantastic Tina Turner concert in the late 1980s.
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