ESCANABA — We are only a few short weeks away from hosting the biggest music event this summer, in the Upper Peninsula. Keith Urban headlines the Northern Lights Music Fest at the U.P. State Fairgrounds along with a start-studded lineup of country and rock performers including Ingrid Andress, Pop Evil, Sebastian Bach, Austin Snell, and newly added Nelson. Two days of fun on July 21st and 22nd will bring thousands of people to Delta County and fill lodging properties across the Upper Peninsula. One question you may ask is, what kind of impact does this have on a community like ours?
The announcement of this festival brought over 100,000 additional visitors to Visit Escanaba’s website resulting in a 1,000% increase in traffic. Keith Urban and other performers list “Escanaba” on their summer tour, which is featured on websites and social media. The additional marketing exposure that this brings to our area is invaluable and will have an impact well beyond the weekend of the event. Having a global super-star affiliated with Delta County brings a new level of standing to our community, and none of this would be possible without the strong support that we have received. Every year we see this community come together to host events at the fairgrounds, including the largest event in the Upper Peninsula, the U.P. State Fair. In 2018 the fair partnered with Michigan State University for an economic analysis of the annual fair, the local economic impact was an additional $5.3 million spent regionally. Since this study the fair has grown even larger and continues to host more people every year.
The fairgrounds is a huge economic driver for our community and developing large events at this facility has a meaningful impact on local businesses. Visit Escanaba is delighted to support annual events at the fairgrounds and help with bringing the Northern Lights Music Fest to this community, because of the return on investment that strengthens the long-term future of Delta County. None of the growth that we are seeing would have been possible without the people that have been here building up the area to get us to this point. Bringing in Keith Urban feels like the next step in our development and will help bring us to new heights.
Visit Escanaba is the Destination Marketing Organization for Delta County. In this role the organization reaches millions of people across the Midwest with advertisements, stories, and other interesting content about our area every year. The Board of Directors and the Visit Escanaba team have executed annual marketing plans that have resulted in nearly doubling the revenue taken in by hotels in Delta County over the past 6 years. That does not include the hundreds of short-term rental properties that have proliferated in the community during that time as well, bringing additional resources here. Even with the growth we have seen, the Northern Lights Music Fest has elevated our marketing beyond the imaginable. With a new venture like this there will always be growing pains and unexpected challenges, but the return on this investment is undeniable and worth the extra effort.
Thank you so much for being a community that graciously hosts thousands of visitors every year. This is a show of support and a way to give back to everyone that has helped Delta County prosper. We hope to see you at the fairgrounds this summer enjoying fun events with family and friends because none of this would be possible without you.
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Robert Micheau is CEO of Visit Escanaba
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