Thunder By The Bay a Huge Success in Sarasota
Thunder By The Bay’s relocation to the Sarasota Fairgrounds, $5 gate admission, and a date change to mid-February proved to be very successful this year raising over $180,000 for Suncoast Charities for Children. This is the most money the event has ever raised for the charity which supports five local non-profit agencies in Sarasota County (Children First, The Florida Center, Loveland Center, The Haven, and Sarasota County Special Olympics).
A report received from Research Data Services indicated that the three-day music and motorcycle festival yielded an economic impact of $7.1 Million and supported 5,900 room nights in area lodgings. Total combined expenditures of out-of-county visitors and donors to the event totaled $3.8 Million, with over 93.8 % of attendees surveyed indicating that they plan to attend next year’s Festival. Of the out-of-county (non-Sarasota resident) attendees, 83.6% came from other parts of Florida and 16.4% came from outside of Florida.
“Thunder By The Bay has always been about raising money for children, teens, and adults with special needs in our local area. Each year necessary costs to run the Festival increase. By charging a first time $5 gate admission we were able to finally move the needle on the net proceeds going back to the charity which was our primary goal for this year”, indicated Festival Director Lucy Nicandri.
Since the Festival first began, over $1.9 Million has been raised for charity. Next year’s Festival is scheduled to take place Feb. 14-16, 2020 at the Sarasota Fairgrounds. For information visit their FB page here.