LT-2018-026-EDA-Cultural Festival

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Response 1: The Ellensburg Downtown Association (EDA) has been dedicated to downtown Project/Event revitalization and preservation for many years. The EDA follows the National Main Description * Street Center 4 -Point Approach to ensure that downtown Ellensburg continues to thrive moving toward the future. The EDA continues to find needs in the community and fill them with events that bring people together. In Spring, 2018, the EDA will bring a Culture Festival to downtown Ellensburg. We will collaborate with Central Washington University cultural groups, county groups, and county museums to bring representation of different cultures as well as the history of Kittitas County to downtown in a festival layout. Groups will have options to serve food (working with the Department of Public Health), display clothing, and display handcrafted cultural items. We plan to utilize the Rotary Pavilion stage for cultural dance performances, readings, and storytelling. We will encourage downtown restaurants to serve a cultural dish as a special that evening that we will promote. We have also connected with Fabiola Serra who has contacts with cultural dance groups in Yakima, Tri Cities, and Seattle. We plan to collaborate and bring in out of the county talent, which will increase our promotion in those outside areas and provide us additional opportunities for the event such as an evening Salsa Dance workshop. A workshop, as well as cultural dinner specials, will bring the festival into the evening, encouraging those who travel to the event to stay overnight. We aim to work with 8-12 different cultural groups county and state wide, who we anticipate will each attract a minimum of 50 people from their communities creating an estimated attendance of 600 for this first time event. Monies from the Lodging Tax will be used to advertise the event through social media, television, direct mailers, radio, and print media. Monies could also be used to help cultural groups market the event to their constituents who live outside of the county. Target audiences include those interested in Heritage Tourism, empty nesters and families looking for weekend travel and outdoor recreation, young adults looking for affordable weekend getaways, those interested in cultural education, history enthusiasts, and CWU families. 2500 character lint List of Intended Use of Funds entertainment social media television radio print advertising direct mailers 21 Projections of Increased Tourism Please provide the following estimates of how any money received will result in increases in the number of people traveling for business or pleasure on a trip: 1. Away from their place of residence or business and staying overnight in paid accommodations; 2. To a place fifty miles or more away from their place of residence or business for the day or staying overnight; 3. or from another country or state outside of their place of residence or business. You must provide the evidence utilized in determining your projections.