Summer's End To Charge Admission? Could Happen

Summer's End, East Greenwich's signature summer event for the past 16 years, is at a financial crossroads. One way forward would be to charge admission, something SAFO President Patrick Craft said they are considering, if not very happily.

"The cost of the show is more than $80,000. It’s cost prohibitive in terms of how we’re currently structured," said Craft in a recent interview. "Do we put people at the gates and charge? I would hate to see that only because it’s had a longstanding tradition of being a free concert at the end of the summer."

Last year, SAFO made one big, cost-saving change – having the U.S. Navy Band perform instead of the Rhode Island Philharmonic. As popular as the R.I. Phil is, it would cost about $25,000 to have them play at Summer's End. The Navy Band, alternatively, is free. 

Even so, the event ran a $3,000 deficit.

When the concerts started, in 1996, "there was quite a nice bundle of money set aside for Summer’s End," said Craft. 

For a long time they broke even. Corporate sponsorships were easier to get then and were larger. 

In recent years, however, it has been harder to gain as many lucative corporate sponsorships and donations have been down. Those realities surfaced as the organization had started to support other events, including the downtown graffiti contest, art "scholarships" at Figgy's Art Studio and college scholarships for EG high school seniors.

"The donations that come in have been phenomenal but they haven’t been covering our costs," Craft said.

What to do?

There's the idea to charge admission. That is not something Craft wants to see happen, primarily because he believes in keeping the concert a real community event, open to everyone. 

Other ideas include offer donors improved access to the concert – incentives for certain levels of donation, including earlier access to the field, Craft said, and pushing for more donations at the gate. Click here to make a donation – you'll find the "donate" button on the bottom right of the page.

SAFO is also thinking about booking the Navy Band every two years and saving the costly R.I. Philharmonic for the third year. It has already submitted paperwork for the Navy Band to return in 2013. 

And it is looking for your ideas. How can Summer's End stay viable?