MI Green Team (MGT) today announced estimated weekend attendance of 25,000 at the Green Living Festival, about half of the 50,000 festival-goers it had planned for. The estimate was used to calculate and offset the event’s carbon footprint, including 75,000 pounds of C02 generated by an estimated 10,000 cars averaging two passengers and a 7.5 mile round trip.
Concerns over Rochester traffic delays and a busy metro event schedule adversely affected attendance. “We tried our best but apparently didn’t convince more people to come to downtown Rochester for the festival during the Main Street Makeover”, said John Batdorf, event manager. “Rochester area resident attendance remained steady this year but other attendance was down dramatically. Clearly, many people tried to avoid a traffic situation that was reported as a major headache but really wasn’t.”
There were many bright spots at the festival including great weather, in spite of a Sunday forecast for thunderstorms. An upgraded wellness program was clearly the weekend highlight, with hundreds of people attending presentations by leading local and national healthy-lifestyle doctors. The Connections Cafe, kids activity area and many exhibit areas were well-attended as well. Improvements in the event layout and smartphone map/locator were well-received, Batdorf said. “We were very gratified by the comments we heard from participants about the event; we will build on those and on many great suggestions for next year.”
MI Green Team’s promotion of healthy and green living extends beyond the festival, and includes publishing complete exhibitor listings, in 30,000 event guides inserted in local newspapers and on its popular event website, www.miglf.com, which receives as many as 1,000 daily visitors. According to Batdorf, the website will continue to provide a “virtual festival” throughout the year.
MI Green Team would like to express its appreciation to all event participants, especially our major sponsors The Home Depot & Pure Eco Environmental Solutions. “150 exhibitors, 20 non-profit organizations, and several media partners helped the event promote downtown Rochester during the Makeover and green/healthy living all year long. With this support, we’ll continue to work on ways to improve the Green Living Festival and add other community and targeted events. We will be preparing for the return of large crowds at next year’s festival,” concluded Batdorf.
MI Green Team promotes green living, business & community through Michigan’s premier green/wellness network, website and events. Visit www.migreenteam.com for information.
Source: Green Living Festival