SnowGlobe promoter wants contract, more from city

By Kathryn Reed

SnowGlobe promoters want a multi-year contract and for the city to pony up more money.

The South Lake Tahoe City Council on March 4 will talk about whether the reported $6 million the three-day music festival brings into the region is worth the trade-offs.

2013 was the third year the event has been staged at the Lake Tahoe Community College ball fields on Dec. 29-31.

“Once the field is replaced, we don’t recommend coming back to that field,” City Manager Nancy Kerry told Lake Tahoe News.

The field is likely to be replaced in three years at a cost of about $500,000. The city has been setting aside money to replace it and has about 75 percent of what it needs in the bank. A large portion of the money comes from Measure S/R dollars, the recreation measure.

Snow actually causes more damage to the artificial turf field than an event like SnowGlobe. And last year was the first time the field was partially covered to prevent wear and tear.

Chad Donnelly, SnowGlobe promoter, wants the city to pay $25,000 in promotional expenses, pickup some transportation costs, and pay for garbage removal.

Donnelly did not return a phone call. It is not known how much he makes off the concert. The cheapest three-day tickets for 2013 were $149. It’s estimated 10,000 to 12,000 people attend the concert. Most do so all three days.

Donnelly has told the city 94 percent of the concertgoers are from outside the area. He bases this on ZIP codes from credit cards used to purchase tickets. From there he extrapolated that $2 million is being spent by attendees on lodging and $4 million on other things.

Kerry said she agrees with those figures.

“They definitely drive money into the local economy,” Kerry said.

But she added that the business community might want offer to help since they have benefited tremendously two of the three years because there was so little snow to draw people to town.

Lake Tahoe Community College will also have to weigh in on any contract because they own half the field. In addition, the physical education building is used, as is the parking lot.

Even if an agreement can be reached for this year and the next couple years, a long-term solution needs to be found if SnowGlobe is going to stay on the South Shore.

Lake Tahoe Airport is out of the question based on FAA regulations. Stateline casinos have said they need the parking that time of year so the answer is “no”. Heavenly is a definite “no”. The parking lot at any Lake Tahoe Unified School District property is a “no” because alcohol sales would not be allowed.

Camp Richardson and Bijou Community Park have not been ruled out.

The other alternative is after five or six years of Donnelly branding SnowGlobe enough people might attend no matter the date, meaning that another time of year could be found to bring the event to South Lake Tahoe.

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Note: The South Lake Tahoe City Council meeting on March 4 starts at 9am at Lake Tahoe airport.