donincardona Posted July 1, 2013 Author Share Posted July 1, 2013 Ok, an a completely different but Bridgeport related topic... I saw from Kyle's review that the stands were really full. Having been the last few years to that show, it's obvious that the $5 ticket thing has worked. I have no idea how the financials work in DCA regarding running a show, but I don't see how they can be making money. But man, is this show not the absolute best deal in drum corps for fans or what? probably sheer numbers of but's in the seats if you have a big venue and you fill it you charge less and make money. that's what cru used to do in the 60's and 70's and we routinely put 18,000-20,000 people in the stands and made a ton of cash. i know corps get paid more but the formula works i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Ok, an a completely different but Bridgeport related topic... I saw from Kyle's review that the stands were really full. Having been the last few years to that show, it's obvious that the $5 ticket thing has worked. I have no idea how the financials work in DCA regarding running a show, but I don't see how they can be making money. But man, is this show not the absolute best deal in drum corps for fans or what? What one has to realize is that the Barnum Festival is not just a drum corps show ... it's a series of events that happen over a several month period with the capstone being the Champions on Parade show and the Great Street Parade ... there is a great deal of community and corporate support ($$) that are donated to make the entire festival successful ... when attendance dropped off over the last decade, the festival seriously thought about dropping the drum corps show ... the $5 ticket was a last ditch attempt to get fans back in the stands ... and now it appears to have worked ... but, the City of Bridgeport, other Barnum events and corporate sponsors are subsidizing the overall cost to run the show ... let's hope the people keep showing up ... :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUARDLING Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 What one has to realize is that the Barnum Festival is not just a drum corps show ... it's a series of events that happen over a several month period with the capstone being the Champions on Parade show and the Great Street Parade ... there is a great deal of community and corporate support ($$) that are donated to make the entire festival successful ... when attendance dropped off over the last decade, the festival seriously thought about dropping the drum corps show ... the $5 ticket was a last ditch attempt to get fans back in the stands ... and now it appears to have worked ... but, the City of Bridgeport, other Barnum events and corporate sponsors are subsidizing the overall cost to run the show ... let's hope the people keep showing up ... :-) and that the city wants to continue to support the show. MAny years back the Mummers were part of the show and parade and cost the festival committee a fortune....MAybe it's a thing that corps/ DCA as well as some key events like the B- Festival have to partner ( like this ) so that events like this don't disapear ( like many others have ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 and that the city wants to continue to support the show. MAny years back the Mummers were part of the show and parade and cost the festival committee a fortune....MAybe it's a thing that corps/ DCA as well as some key events like the B- Festival have to partner ( like this ) so that events like this don't disapear ( like many others have ) Wow ... that last "big" Mummers involvement was around 1964 if I recall correctly ... the Barnum even had a separate Mummers field competition at Hedeges Stadium ... didn't know about the finance thing ... one or two may have shown up since then ... good stuff ... you from Bpt Guardling? :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickiJay Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 The stands were packed, the weather was unbeliveable, the show was GREAT and 99.9% of the spectators were curtious and fun to be with. We all know the experts in the bleachers who know this corps director and that music director, and everything there is to know about the entire DCA organization. Thanks for sharing all this inside information???? My first reaction to the audio problem was that it was unfortunate for the people who would like more information on ALL the corps participating that night, but on second thought, maybe it was ok to just watch and enjoy. I am guessing that there were some pretty bruised egos when their names were not able to be announced. OH WELL! Thank you Bridgeport for a very enjoyable evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkmummer Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Wow ... that last "big" Mummers involvement was around 1964 if I recall correctly ... the Barnum even had a separate Mummers field competition at Hedeges Stadium ... didn't know about the finance thing ... one or two may have shown up since then ... good stuff ... you from Bpt Guardling? I never did the Mum competition, but there was heavy involvement in the parades up until 15 (?) years ago. I've done that parade twice in the late 90's. It very well could have been money since the average string band would probably be in the $3000 to $5000 range to take a job up there. If they are only performing in the parade and not any way for Bport to recoup money like they can from a drum corps show it could have been way too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabalumnidrummer Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 The stands were packed, the weather was unbeliveable, the show was GREAT and 99.9% of the spectators were curtious and fun to be with. We all know the experts in the bleachers who know this corps director and that music director, and everything there is to know about the entire DCA organization. Thanks for sharing all this inside information???? My first reaction to the audio problem was that it was unfortunate for the people who would like more information on ALL the corps participating that night, but on second thought, maybe it was ok to just watch and enjoy. I am guessing that there were some pretty bruised egos when their names were not able to be announced. OH WELL! Thank you Bridgeport for a very enjoyable evening. I'm sorry , but I have to differ with those who said it was a big crowd, 'packed stands,' etc. on Saturday night. From the field, it was obvious that the crowd was fairly small. As sometimes happens at many shows where there are many casual spectators and not 'hard core' drum corps fans, the grandstand was fairly full (though not packed) from the entrance ramp to about the fifty yard line. Beyond the fifty (the old "starting line side"), the stands were virtually empty. It was noticeable enough to cause most of us to lament how small the total crowd was, considering the bargain price of just $5. As we stood at the gate waiting to enter the field, even some of the volunteers were commenting to us about the disappointing crowd turnout. One of them said, "You can't go to a movie for that price!" Five competing corps plus three exhibitions for $5 is unheard of for most shows. As Andy Lisko pointed out, this is but one event in the whole Barnum Festival each year. Perhaps the drum corps show doesn't have the allure of some of the other Barnum events for the general public. Even at just $5, that's more that the grand street parade on Sunday, which is free to all. All that being said, I agree with RickiJay. It was a great night for a drum corps show, every corps performed well, and the crowd that was there certainly got at least eight times more than their money's worth of entertainment. Drum corps folks from the area need to continue to support this show before it disappears. Thank you, Bridgeport and the Barnum Festival Committee. Let's hope the Barnum Festival contest continues for many more years to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LegalEagle50 Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 There was also a pretty large crowd exiting at the time Cabs Alumni came on John. It has been more packed earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 and that the city wants to continue to support the show. MAny years back the Mummers were part of the show and parade and cost the festival committee a fortune....MAybe it's a thing that corps/ DCA as well as some key events like the B- Festival have to partner ( like this ) so that events like this don't disapear ( like many others have ) Mid-1980s... might have been 1985... I attended the Barnum with some non-drum corps friends in the Bridgeport area whose daughter was involved in the opening ceremonies. It was literally the first time I actually had watched the show from beginning to end as a spectator. I remember there was a Mummer's band as part of the opening festivities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donincardona Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 Mid-1980s... might have been 1985... I attended the Barnum with some non-drum corps friends in the Bridgeport area whose daughter was involved in the opening ceremonies. It was literally the first time I actually had watched the show from beginning to end as a spectator. I remember there was a Mummer's band as part of the opening festivities. I ALWAYS LOVED THE MUMMERS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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