Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

X-Fest made $23K for city of Modesto

Modesto's 10th annual Xclamation Festival brought more than 15,000 people downtown and added $23,631 to city coffers.

That was a drop from 2008, when the outdoor music festival generated $30,354 for the city, an all-time high. The City Council will hear a report about this year's X-Fest at its Wednesday meeting.

The 2009 X-Fest, held July 18 in downtown Modesto, featured more than 50 bands on seven stages.

Among the highlights from the report:

- Paid attendance was 14,160. Promoter Chris Ricci said he wants to expand next year's X-Fest to accommodate as many as 17,900 people. Police say they support that idea as long as the event is given more space downtown.

- This year the city took a smaller than usual share of ticket sales. That probably will happen again in 2010. In previous years, Modesto received 10 percent of gross ticket sales. In 2009, the city's share was dropped to 8 percent. The city lowered its take to help Ricci, who said the weak economy cost him an estimated $50,000 in lost sponsorships.

- Despite worries about crowd control, police say attendees behaved well. Police arrested 25 people this year, none for serious offenses. Police arrested about 25 people in 2008 and 32 people in 2007. It's recommended that next year police keep a few patrol cars downtown after X-Fest is over to respond to parties held afterward.

- Ricci paid $44,000 for police overtime, $4,659 to the Fire Department and $4,500 to ambulance service American Medical Response.

Bee staff writer Leslie Albrecht can be reached at lalbrecht@modbee.com or 578-2378.