

Weighing the impact of a Bele Chere-less summer

4:00 PM, Dec. 20, 2013  |  Comments
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In what has to rank as one of the least surprising news developments of recent weeks, Asheville has learned it cannot have a signature summer event without significant city financial participation.

Last year, the city decided to stop subsidizing Bele Chere, the largest street party in the South. Staff estimated it would save the hard-pressed city $450,000.

To fill the void, the city sought proposals for "Asheville's next signature event." It got only two, and both were modest. One of them would require $100,000 in cash and services from the city.

Moogfest organizers, the ones seeking the subsidy, are expanding this year to include lectures, art installations, exhibits and a job fair, creating an event that could be similar to Austin, Texas's South-by-Southwest.

The other proposal is from the Asheville Wine and Food Festival for a weeklong Appalachian Heritage Festival that would highlight the area's food, music, outdoor recreation, art, wineries and breweries, according to Jon Fillman, a city economic development specialist.

The city is looking to help events that would boost the local economy, Fillman said. "We weren't looking for another block party (or) ... concert in the park."

Both ideas are positive and both events would help the city's cultural image and, presumably, the economy. But the city seemed to be seeking more, almost a Bele Chere by another name without a city subsidy.

It sought "a self-sustaining, annual event that will encourage commerce, maximize national exposure, and respect Asheville's cultural underpinnings while incorporating the attributes of its cosmopolitan-bohemian brand." It's debatable whether either proposal would satisfy those criteria.

Until now, some held to the dream that Bele Chere could somehow survive without a city subsidy. "There were some views in the community that suggested that making Bele Chere more like it was (when it was smaller) could be accomplished" with support from sponsors, Vice Mayor Marc Hunt said.

Hunt said he had considered that idea "a real reach," and the lack of a proposal to do so in response to the city's invitation bore out his pessimism.

When Bele Chere was scuttled last year, the talk was almost exclusively of the effect on the city budget. Almost nothing was said of the estimated $400,000 to $500,000 in extra sales taxes due to Bele Chere, or the $8-10 million in economic impact. These are the city's own numbers.

Then there is the question of Bele Chere's role. The festival was begun in 1979 as a way to help revitalize downtown. That goal has been accomplished and some merchants felt Bele Chere had outlived its usefulness. They objected especially to the effect on their businesses of street closures.

If you accept the rationale that is up to the downtown businesses whether Bele Chere continues, then the matter is closed and the city's role is to look beyond, as it has been doing.

If you don't accept that rationale, then the city ought to examine the effect on the economy of a summer without Bele Chere. Maybe it won't matter. Or maybe the $450,000 will turn out to have been money well spent due to the economic impact.

On top of that, there's something to be said for an event of such wide popularity that it brings in 300,000 people. The Citizen-Times story on the proposals was picked up by the Associated Press and is being published in cities where interest evidently was high enough to make the report newsworthy.

Unless something miraculous occurs, there will be no Bele Chere in 2014.Whether there will be one in 2015 depends on both economics and the city's view of the festival's role.

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