Summerfest Attendance Down - But Why?

Attendance and revenue were down this year at Summerfest, Milwaukee's biggest festival. They're blaming the heat wave:

The excessive heat wave took a toll on Milwaukee’s Summerfest, with attendance declining 8.3 percent to 805,437 this year from 878,636 in 2011.

Milwaukee World Festival Inc. officials announced preliminary data indicating that Summerfest, the World’s Largest Music Festival, increased revenue in key business to business categories including sponsorships, business group sales and exhibitors by 11.4 percent.

The 11 day event and festival fans battled heat indexes in the 90’s and 100’s on eight operating days.

The combined revenue derived from gate ticket sales as well as food and beverage commissions decreased by 7.5 percent compared with last year’s totals in the same categories.

Without a doubt, the heat probably had a lot to do with it.

But I wonder if that's the only reason.

I am sure that the economy of Fitzwalkerstan had something to do with it. If you have thousands of people losing their jobs and even more than that taking serious pay cuts, they're not going to have the extra cash to pay $16 a head for admission, parking and the food/beverage costs.

Even if one took advantage of the promotional discount entrances and took the bus instead of driving down there, it'd be an expensive proposition. And with the way the state's economy has been depressed, people have to take care of the vital things like shelter and food first.

The Chances Are High...

...to get a contact high at Summerfest this year.

The Power Of Sykes And Other False Arguments Regarding Summerfest

Almost every day, I hear and see a lot of incredible and ridiculous things. Today was no exception.

It started out this morning, with Charlie Sykes pleading his case about how he really is still is significant, even though this is not actually the case.

Today's delusion of grandeur de Sykes was premised on an article in the morning paper that didn't even mention him. The article tells of how the army has reinstated a modified version of the virtual war game at Summerfest. Instead of killing people, the player would should at generic targets.

To me it seemed like a logical compromise. Some of my liberal allies felt disappointment at Summerfest's official statement regarding it. As for me, well I learned while a guard at the House of Correction, "it doesn't matter what they say, as long as they do what you want them to do."

The army reinstated another, less-offensive version of the game. Sykes and his crew of squawking sycophants failed to get the original game reinstated, which was their goal. This means they lost. But Sykes merely moved the goal posts, ignored reality, smeared a liberal and falsely claimed he led his faithful listeners to victory. This was, of course, echoed by his minions that probably didn't even know what they were talking about.

If that was too hard to follow, Other Side has a nice, graphic way of explaining it.

Now for the other fallacies...

Some on the right claim that the game only tried to show what the life of a soldier was really like. That is also a lie. It glamorizes war, and doesn't represent the whole picture. It doesn't show the wounded comrades. It doesn't show the dead comrades. It doesn't show the wounded and dead Iraqi civilians, that the soldier may have been forced to kill, or were killed by others. It doesn't talk about the unseen wounds that are brave men and women have to contend with, even after they have returned to their homes.

Some on the right have complained that there apparently is a tent nearby that allows people to play Grand Theft Auto. This too is a false argument. Grand Theft Auto, however inappropriate it may be, is privately paid for by the company that makes it. The Army pays for their stand with our tax dollars.

Some have also called the people that protested this game as "anti-military thugs" which, besides being an oxymoron, is also ironic, considering that some of those that called Summerfest on it are veterans themselves. To make it even more ironic, the same people that mislabel the left are the same ones who back McCain, who has a record of not supporting veterans or veteran benefits.

Support Your Friendly Neighborhood Summerfest

The U.S. Army has a stand on the Summerfest grounds aimed at recruiting volunteers. That's fine and dandy, and I have no issue with that.

However, this year, they have added a media component in which participants and play a game of "virtual war." Apparently it was designed with the intent of showing the life of a soldier in today's army.

Members of a group called Peace Action Wisconsin and another group called Veteran for Peace called and filed their complaints with the Summerfest people, which then asked the Army to take that part down. The Army cooperated without hesitation.

As predicted by James Rowen, this got the feathers of Chickenhawk Sykes and his band of squawkers all ruffled. They are now trying to exert their power of selective outrage against Summerfest to coerce them into allowing the video game.

Keep in mind that the Army is still there and they're still recruiting. It's just the virtual war game that has been stopped. But that fact doesn't seem to stop the right wingers from being mad as wet hens.

Now, you may be asking yourself, "What can we do to stop them from bullying around the Summerfest officials?" The answer is simple. Call Summerfest yourself, at 414-273-2690, and thank them for taking the actions that they have, and to express your wish that they don't back off from their decision.