GOVERNMENT
Maricoachella They said Wild West Music Fest was coming back. Where is it? BY JUSTIN GRIFFIN
Hold your horses, partner The city and SLE are examining the festival’s viability as part of ongoing negotiations for its return. “We were certainly hopeful that [negotiations] this year would be speedier, but I don’t want to speak for them,” Konold said of the promoter. “You need to ask them, but I think they’re taking a look at the totality of, ‘How much is this worth to us?’” SLE CEO Steve Levine told InMaricopa Aug. 16 he was “very excited to return to the city of Maricopa to bring back another year of Wild West Music Festival.” “Last year’s event was a great kick-off, and we’re eager to build on that momentum for year two,” Levine said, being careful not to answer whether year two was this year or some other year.
understatement, about their readiness to see the festival become a yearly staple like Country Thunder in Florence. It’s been touted at Maricopa City Council meetings and was a topic at InMaricopa ’s City Council Debate on July 11, where Councilmember Bob Marsh spoke glowingly. “I liked it. I really enjoyed it,” Marsh said. “I think that an event like that will put Maricopa on the map as it grows. I think the Wild West Music Fest is a worthwhile event and I hope next year we can find a way to make it profitable.” With all that support, what’s the holdup? In an Aug. 6 wide-ranging interview with InMaricopa , Quinn Konold, Maricopa’s director of community enrichment, said just about every aspect of the Wild West Music Fest is being re-examined, from its timing to the duration — or even whether to have it at all.
The city pitched in $370,000 toward last year’s million- dollar festival, but after the final accounting, the event was a $250,000 loss. “They absorbed the loss,” Konold said of SLE. “Usually, a promoter just wants a flat fee and a percentage [of the proceeds]. When we put out our request for proposals, SLE was the only group who was willing to put their own skin in the game like this.” This year, the city’s buy-in is nearly 30% smaller than last year at $265,000. After a paltry turnout for the third day of last year’s event that led to the city handing out tickets for free, there’s been talk of limiting the scope of the next festival to two days. Another wrinkle is $240,000 of the funding will come from a bed tax, collected from people who stay at Maricopa’s
WHEN MAYOR NANCY SMITH ANNOUNCED THE RETURN of the Wild West Music Fest during her State of the City address in January, the event was positioned as a done deal. It’s in the city’s budget. New funding mechanisms for it are in place, requiring very little taxpayer money compared to last year. All systems go, right? Not exactly. The momentum behind the Wild West Music Fest has stalled. By late August, there was no announcement about when this year’s event would take place, and a contract had not been signed with promoter Steve Levine Entertainment. Last year’s event was held Oct. 13-15. From the outset, elected officials have been nearly unanimous in backing it and are vocal, and that’s an
I think the Wild West
Music Fest is a worthwhile event and I hope next year we can find a way to make it
profitable.” COUNCILMEMBER BOB MARSH
InMaricopa.com | September 2024
September 2024 | InMaricopa.com
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