SnowGlobe extended until 2018; Promoter wants to bring three more events to town annually

The annual SnowGlobe Music Festival is here to stay, at least for now.

During Tuesday's South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting, promoter Chad Donnelly went before the elected officials, asking them for a three year extension of the annual festival until 2019 (though they would ultimately like a deal until 2027), and more money from the City to help with the costs of garbage pick-up and transportation for the three-day event which runs from December 29-31 each year.

What the City gave him was not quite what he was asking for as he got more cash, but less time.

The Council voted to have the current contract extended until 2018 and give him a maximum of $50,000 per year to help with trash and buses. Through 2016 Donnelly gets $25,000 to help with the costs and wanted to add $5,000 to that figure annually ($30,000 in 2017, $35,000 in 2018, etc). He already gets about $50,000 from the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority but said many other communities want the event and are willing to pay more.

For their investment, the City expects the whole town to be promoted through the event, not just SnowGlobe.

The extension is all contingent on Lake Tahoe Community College's Board of Directors giving their thumbs up on the festival which reaches out onto their property. The community field that their soccer team uses is currently being resurfaced and will not be available for concert use this year. The other two community fields that the play field JPA is building adjacent to the original one will be just dirt this winter as sod is to be installed in spring.

Council didn't want to extend the SnowGlobe contract out further until they could see the affect of the heavy use during the concerts on their new field. Those results won't be known until the 2017 show. Music festivals were never the intended use of the fields created with Measure R & S funds.

Donnelly also told Council that he wants to bring three more events to the same space each year, but those events didn't have to be concerts. Spring through fall sees heavy use by the community and outside tournaments on the play fields, so any event would sacrifice their play time on what is already a maxed out schedule. No vote or further discussion took place on his new plan, just on SnowGlobe.

The concert promoter also said that of the 15,000 tickets sold daily to the festival, 90 percent are for those purchasing a three-day pass. That would mean 13,500 people come for the whole event, with the remaining 4,500-5,500 tickets belong to those attending one or two days.

Donnelly claimed SnowGlobe has an economic benefit to the South Shore of $17-22 million, a figure the City asked him to substantiate with a report which he promised to do.

The annual American Century Championship, which has more than double the attendance, has brought in $2.5 billion over the last 26 years, or $9 million annually for the six-day event. The South Shore is highlighted by NBC throughout each broadcast and on all advertising collateral, with no cost to the City.