Maureen sends along the ad for this year’s Low Country Boil at the Solarium…
Online tickets are available now through October 10 at www.decatureducationfoundation.org. Prices are $60 in advance ($40 in advance for CSD staff) and $75 for tickets at the door.
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Man, I wish I had the money for this! This looks like it’s going to be an amazing event with amazing food for an unbelievably amazing cause!
I know it’s a fundraiser, and it looks like a decent time, but that’s a bit steep for me. Probably won’t make this one.
I will be there!
Heck, I spend $60 just for a night at UJoint and this goes to a great cause.
$60 per person at UJoint? If my wife and I spent $120 at the UJoint, we wouldn’t be able to walk.
I will be there!
Heck, I spend $60 just for a night at UJoint and this goes to a great cause.
Spending $60 at the UJoint makes you see and post double.
LOL. Maybe.
However, I guess my point was that pretty easy to spend $50-$60 at UJoint for 2 people on a given night.
Given that at the Lowcountry Boil you get a nice meal, free drinks, and live entertainment with the price of your ticket and support a cause that you care about, $60 per person is not a bad deal at all. But if $60 is too expensive for you, nobody is making you go.
Not to be confused (and I did, briefly) with Twain’s Picktoberfest and Low Country Boil on Oct. 8.
http://www.twains.net/
It appears the admission price for most of the Decatur festivals is going up at a time when cost containment is a priority for most families. It is sad, but I find that I don’t attend many of them any more, but then again ,maybe I am not the target audience.
Question: are the festivals’ purpose gradually changing from being community & neighborhood events to being marketing opportunities for promoting Decatur and its businesses to non-residents?
It’s important to distinguish between “festival” and “fundraiser” which isn’t always easy because several fundraisers call themselves festivals. Anyhow, different fundraisers are put on by different organizations with different missions, and the goals of the specific events vary. Depending on the nature of the event (what’s offered, the size of the venue, etc.) it may be promoted beyond Decatur. Examples: the beer festival and the BBQ festival, both of which raise money that is distributed through small grants to a variety of good causes and initiatives specifically benefiting Decaturites. The Solarium Patio Party, in contrast, is promoted just within Decatur (mostly) because (1) the venue won’t hold unlimited people, (2) it’s a fundraiser but also meant as a celebration of and for the community.
Having been involved in various fundraising activities around town over the years, from small to large, I can tell you that the profit margin is usually pretty slim and the organizers will charge as much as they can get away with in order to raise as much money as possible for their cause. At the same time, they will not risk pricing themselves out of the market. If raising the price of admission backfires, they have to wait a year to try again.
There are a lot of free festivals and activities in Decatur throughout the year, and most are made possible at least in part by successful fundraising at other events.
I also want to say — and I’m not singling out No Pain at all, this is addressed to anybody who’s carped about fundraiser event prices — that if the price of an event is too steep, that’s understandable. Most of us are trimming expenses where we can/need to. But why risk discouraging others from supporting it? Complaining publicly that it’s too expensive doesn’t help the event sell tickets.
I did not mean to in any way discourage folks from attending this or any other fundraiser or festival – I apologize if that is how most post came across.
We joke about the number of festivals in Decatur, and the DM t-shirt even has a a tagline that pokes fun. I guess I am just feeling a bit of fundraiser and festival fatigue that is exacerbated by my perception that the costs are rising faster than I anticipated.
Sigh – there are so many good causes, but so few dollars in my wallet.
And I didn’t mean to sound like such a scold. My comment reflected some carried-over exasperation about the complaints over the price of BBQ fest tickets back in August. I’ve probably grilled too many non-profit hot dogs in my day, it’s made me prickly!
I agree with Marty that this is not that much money for what you get. It is easy to drop $50 at any nice restaurant and that doesn’t include entertainment, drinks, and a free t-shirt. So that, while I love going to nice restaurants, this is a better deal and goes for an unbelievably good cause. I will be there as long as my flight gets back in time from DC.
We still need volunteers to help pull of the Boil – if you can’t purchase a ticket you can still enjoy the event by volunteering! Go to http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/752345634627274088
and enter your email – that will bring you to the sign up screen.