The City of Estevan has released the figures from the most recent concert at Affinity Place.
A total of 2,006 people attended the Nov. 23 show that featured veteran Canadian rock group SUM 41 and long-time American punk rock group The Offspring. Dinosaur Pileup was the opening act.
In an email to the Mercury, city manager Jeff Ward said the city tracked ticket sales and almost 50 per cent of the tickets were sold outside of Estevan, which meant a substantial influx of people coming into the community.
The event posted an $8,167.87 profit.
“Feedback from the concert has been fantastic and extremely positive in all aspects,” said Ward.
One of the unique aspects for a concert in Estevan was the “mosh pit” on the floor of Affinity Place. Most of the previous concerts at the events centre have had floor seating, but the chairs didn’t happen this time, allowing fans to stand and dance and even crowd surf.
The musicians were also in on the crowd surfing fun.
Ward thought the mosh pit worked great for the concert.
“We would look at doing it again; however the band and tour decides whether there is seating on the floor or whether it’s a standing room only show,” Ward said.
A cash bar was once again used for liquor sales, and Ward said it seemed to work fine, although they did get a few comments regarding service on the floor at the beginning of the night.
“We are always learning and tweaking the operations as we look at future concerts,” said Ward.
He pointed out that these concerts bring a substantial amount of people into the city and increase revenues for hotels, bars, restaurants, gas stations and other businesses.
“The community as a whole can have an event to get excited about, that is happening right here in our city. These continue to contribute to the standard of living for the residents of Estevan.”
Based on the tourism economic development model, Ward said an event with this attendance creates an impact of around $1 million for the area.
