In May of 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Festivals of Cedarburg announced the cancelation of the city’s Strawberry Festival, an event that typically draws 50,000 visitors each year. Then came the cancelation of Wine & Harvest Festival, the city’s next biggest two-day festival. What followed was two years of uncertainty about public gatherings of any kind.
While it’s typically neighboring Milwaukee that’s known for its abundance of festivals, Ozaukee County also has many warm-weather events for visitors, ranging from festivals and parades to fairs and art walks. It may have seemed like an insurmountable task at the time of lockdown and health restrictions, but several Ozaukee County business leaders now believe the area’s tourism sector has fully recovered from the pandemic, once again attracting pre-pandemic levels of visitors and economic impact.
“We have definitely rebounded from COVID. In fact, I would say our last Strawberry Festival and Wine & Harvest Festival were right back where they were before,” said Cori Rice, president of Festivals of Cedarburg. Both events retuned in 2022 after a two-year hiatus.
Rice said it’s tricky to estimate attendance for Cedarburg’s festivals as they’re free of charge and there isn’t an entrance gate. However, Festivals of Cedarburg is projecting that this year’s Strawberry Festival and Wine & Harvest Festival attendance numbers will again reach pre-pandemic levels.
One way municipalities can gauge how many visitors are coming through the area is by looking at the amount of money brought in by room taxes, generated by temporary lodging such as hotels and Airbnb.
From 2021-2022 Cedarburg saw a 25% increase in room tax revenue, according to Maggie Dobson, executive director of the Cedarburg Chamber of Commerce. The chamber is projecting a similar increase for 2023. Cedarburg has two inns for visitors: the Washington House Inn and The Stagecoach Inn Bed and Breakfast.
“We’ve learned here in Cedarburg, way before the pandemic, that if you put all of your eggs in one basket for four days out of a 365-day year, that’s not good,” said Dobson. “We certainly love the influx that our festivals bring us – there’s no dollar amount we can put on those – it’s definitely something businesses benefit from financially.”
She said some of city’s smaller events like the Fourth of July parade, Rotary Music Festival and Country in the Burg have all also seen attendance numbers rebound.
“I definitely think that we’ve come back and feel very strongly about the future of Cedarburg,” said Dobson.
As for the Ozaukee County Fair, which is another ticket-free event, available attendance data shows it has completely recovered since the pandemic, seeing a 20% increase.
Smaller county events
Wayne Chrusciel, executive director of Port Washington Tourism Council, said the city has also seen a boost in room tax revenue. Port Washington’s Fish Day festival, which was canceled in 2020 and 2021 but returned in a smaller format in 2022, is scheduled for this July.
“We are up 52% (in room tax revenue) in 2022 versus 2019,” said Chrusciel. “We had little to no short-term stay revenue in 2019, and a decent amount in 2022. If you factor out this money from 2022, we were still up 26% in 2022 versus 2019.”
2020 was also a tough year for lodging in Grafton, said Pam King, executive director for the Grafton Area Chamber of Commerce. Grafton’s room tax revenue decreased by about 70% from 2019 to 2020, then increased in 2021.
“(In 2021) we were at about 80% of where we were in 2019,” said King. “In 2022, we were back to where we were in 2019 and we anticipate that we will surpass those figures in 2023.”
Grafton’s biggest event of the year is the Giro d’ Grafton, part of the Tour of America’s Dairyland bike series. The 2020 Giro d’ Grafton event was canceled. In 2021, the number of racers was down significantly because of travel restrictions internationally. In turn, attendance at the event was also down.
“In 2022, the number of riders increased as did our spectators, and in 2023, we are anticipating a record number of riders in our race,” said King.
One of largest tourism events in the Mequon-Thiensville area is Lionfest, a three-day festival held at Thiensville Village Park.
The Thiensville-Mequon Lions Club estimates that Lionfest attendance hovered between 7,000 to 10,000 people in 2021 and 2022. Lionfest is another Ozaukee County event that can be difficult to gauge attendance for since it is free, said Jim Doornek, member of the Thiensville-Mequon Lions Club, but he believes the event has returned to full health since the pandemic.
“It’s hard to tell,” said Doornek. “I’d say (attendance is) back to about the same. Income is up, but that could be due to higher prices.”
Best “Dam” Blues Festival, Thiensville’s newest festival, is also held in Thiensville Village Park. Attendance for the festival in 2021, the first year the event was held, was estimated to be 3,000 people. In 2022, it drew 4,000 people.
