BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
This weekend's Coors Light Festival at Cinergy Field and its sidekick African street festival - Ujima Cinci-bration - in downtown Cincinnati are expected to pump a minimum of $27.9 million into the local economy.
Tristate hotel operators, in particular, are gearing up for one of the biggest money-making weekends of the summer, according to the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"These dollars filter out to the community," said Gayle Harden-Renfro, a communications director for the bureau.
In coming up with the $27 million figure, Ms. Renfro takes into consideration that roughly 60,000 of the 75,000 visitors expected to attend the downtown events will stay at local hotels, dine out and shop. She estimates that each of the 60,000 visitors will spend a minimum of $465 during the weekend.
This doesn't take into account the locals who will come down to the concerts at the stadium on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, possibly go out to dinner and shop at the Ujima festival in the downtown business district, Ms. Renfro said. More than 100 vendors will be selling food and merchandise in conjunction with the event.
James Clingman, executive director of the African American Chamber of Commerce, a co-sponsor of the Ujima festival, said "99 percent to 99 1/2 percent" of the money will come from black consumers attending the downtown events.
But for some downtown businesses, the big crowds drawn by events like the Coors Light Festival, Riverfest and Taste of Cincinnati actually hurt foot traffic.
"We'll maybe do one-third of the business we normally do on a Saturday night," said Steve Petersen, owner of Petersen's Restaurants. "I don't begrudge the festival at all - I enjoy it," Mr. Petersen said. "But anybody who has come down that weekend in the evening has experienced the gridlock. It's just too much of a hassle."
With street parking restricted downtown, Rick Cappel, part owner of Cappel's at Ninth and Elm streets, said he normally tries to dissuade customers from making a long trek to his stores, which specializes in decorations, party supplies and costumes, when there is a downtown festival.
"We discourage them from coming this weekend because of the problems with parking and getting around," he said.
Traditionally, restaurants and shops don't do a good business during "big crowd events," said David Ginsburg, senior vice president of Downtown Cincinnati Inc., a downtown advocacy group known as DCI.
"However, these events bring in hundreds of thousands of people to town," he added. "We hope they'll come back."
Other types of businesses, such as motels and hotels, will thrive. At least 15 of the local motels and hotels are flashing "no vacancy" signs, not only downtown but also in the surrounding suburbs and Northern Kentucky.
Because the downtown events aren't the only shows in town, Ben Coffman said his 70-room Ashley Quarters hotel in Florence has been sold out this weekend for weeks.
A portion of his guests will be attending the downtown music concerts at the stadium, he said, while others will head to Turfway Park for the Greater Cincinnati Classic Horse Show.
"It's probably the busiest (weekend of the summer)," Mr. Coffman said. "We've been getting phone calls and have to tell them we're out of room. They ask "Do you know of another place,' and you can tell they have been calling around a lot. They seem very frustrated."
In addition, there are two sold-out Jimmy Buffett concerts Friday and Saturday night at Riverbend Music Center in Anderson Township. About 36,000, or 18,000 each night, are expected to attend the concerts, said Mike Smith, vice president of Nederlander of Cincinnati, which manages Riverbend.
And the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will perform at Riverbend on Sunday.
Adding to the hoopla, another 5,000 conventioneers are supposed to roll in starting Saturday for the Church of God International Youth Convention at Albert B. Sabin Convention Center.
While it was unclear what type of economic impact these smaller events would have on the city, Ms. Renfro, with the convention and visitors bureau, summed it up succinctly: "It's going to be hopping around here this weekend."
Lucy May contributed to this report.
