Will 4th On Broadway In Lubbock Be A Bust?

It will take a miracle for 4th On Broadway to happen.

I'm Your Man

Hey, you know who could keep 4th On Broadway going? That would be me. I'd need a much bigger checkbook though. The Lubbock City Council, which is apparently made up of people who don't have any idea what it took to put this even on , threw about $40,000 to Civic Lubbock to make 4th On Broadway happen. The goal would be for a morning parade and the evening fireworks concert.

The Plans

So, let's start with the plans. It is heartbreaking that the first thing dropped is the thing that drove the founder(s) to put the event on, and that's the bands that entertained after the parade. I'm not sure how many people will head downtown just to watch bank presidents drive by in rented cars (sorry, I'll admit that I think parades are kind of dumb and antiquated to begin with).

History

In the past, wonderful people and corporate sponsors have thrown cash at the evening concert and some other sponsorships. Not having Broadway Festivals involved gives them the perfect chance to opt out and take a wait-and-see approach and I don't blame them a bit. This could be a problem because, without additional funding, this isn't going to be much of an event.

Costs

Production, which is the word for the lights, sound, stage, and manpower for the evening concert has to come in at least at $15k (charge for the actual talent will be extra). I just don't see how it could be done for less, and I'm concerned I'm being very foolish even a figure that low.

Fireworks

According to one supplier, city-wide fireworks displays go for between $1000 and $3500 per minute, and average 18-23 minutes. So let's say we come in low at $2000 a minute and do 20 minutes, well that's $40k, and BAM! We're already $15k over our budget and all we've covered is two basics.

The Stuff You Don't Think Of

For this event we're going to need at least two dozen police and on duty EMS professionals, and possibly a full-on first aid triage center. We are going to need port-o-potties and since we don't know how much crowd to expect it will be between 25 and 50 of them. We are going to need water for the volunteers and some type of credential or shirt showing they are are official in some capacity. We may even need special event insurance if this event if it's not covered by existing policies. But wait, we will need all this and more, TWICE! We'll need entirely different setups for the parade and down in the park.

Volunteers

Then there's the matter of volunteers to make this whole thing run, and I think the foot soldiers from previous years will tap out on this year as well. I think their allegiance was based around the cult of personality that Don Caldwell built. Maybe I'm not the right guy for this job. I wouldn't do it for the $40k as salary, knowing it certainly looks like a lost cause from the start. I do hope 4th On Broadway does well, but I don't see how it can possibly be anything but a shadow of previous events even with a lot of donations.