Merchants Capitalize on a New Jazz+ Weekend

In January Sonoma City Council agreed to provide Sonoma Jazz+, which wrapped up its 2011 weekend on Sunday, with a five-year agreement. But a question emerged: does an uptick in tourism make it fiscally profitable for the city to provide these dividends?

Industry professionals and town officials say the weekend's Sonoma Jazz +festival was a resounding commercial success - all the more so for having been pushed back from its traditional Memorial Day weekend scheduling.

Hoteliers, in particular, say the city's decision push the event back a week is paying dividends.

The Jazz festival used to be held on Memorial weekend, which some say capped the number of visitors by overlapping a high-profile attraction with a weekend that tends to bring vacationers anyway. By contrast, holding the event a week earlier has opened the doors for a double spike in tourism.

So far, so good: hospitality professionals say the crowds were as large as ever this year, even without the holiday weekend.

“Our place was completely booked probably booked about 3 months ago,” said William Henry, Beverage Director for and . “This year was convenient. It was on Memorial Day last year, and I don't think we saw as many restaurants as full as they were this time. And now we have Memorial Day next week, so that's two straight weekends that are completely busy.”

“The big push was for restaurants that stayed open a little later,” Henry added. “We normally would close at 10, but we stayed open and got a lot of business from people coming home after the festival. These late night customers are something we don't normally see in Sonoma.”

While the city does not receive any direct proceeds from the festival, it does rake in extra tax revenues through a 10 percent transient occupancy tax (TOT) levied on lodging occupants, which can mushroom in line with a tourist spike.

City Manager Linda Kelly said it is impossible to determine how much TOT revenue flows in on a given weekend because businesses only have to provide statements once a month.

The added revenues are substantial, Kelly said, but so are the costs of putting on the event. According to Kelly, the city helps subsidize the festival with $37,600 in general use funds, $24,000 for the “Field of Dreams” rental, $7,600 to rent the police station parking lot and $6,000 for fire, public works and EMT services. Except for that last appropriation, which comes from the city's general fund, all the funds are drawn from the Sonoma Community Development agency, according to Kelly.

Kelly couldn't say if the extra tax money generated over the weekend will exceed what the city pays to hold the festival. At the very least, she said, it should go a long way toward offsetting those layouts.

Wendy Peterson, Executive Director of the , called the Jazz Festival a “cornerstone” of local culture and said the music, wine and various showcases always draw multitudes.

“A lot of properties had waiting lists it was so full,” said Wendy Peterson, Executive Director of the Sonoma Visitor's Bureau. “We don't know revenues until the TOT collections are made, but it definitely stood out in value. We have 1200 to 1500 lodgings, and all of our lodgings were full, from the Fairmont to the little cottage in the vineyard.”

“The plaza area was just buzzing,” she added. “And not only downtown but the entire 17 mile Sonoma Valley was filled. Wineries and other locations were filled with happy people, the weather cooperated and it was lots of fun. A perfect Sonoma weekend.”

Correction appended: Sonoma City Council did not issue a five year "subsidy agreement" for Jazz+. The Council issued a five-year contract, with the subsidy renegotiable each year.