PVDFest will return next year, but Providence Mayor Brett P. Smiley's administration is beginning the process of figuring out what it will look like after the mayor's overhaul of the annual city-run festival this year drew mixed reactions from business owners and residents.
Smiley spokesperson Josh Estrella said on Sept. 19 that the mayor's office is in the process of reviewing feedback "so PVDFest can return for its 10th year and offer festival goers an excellent experience" but did not provide any details of what is being considered.
There has been no shortage of feedback to sift through.
Rainstorms on the weekend of Sept. 8-10 clearly put a damper on the three-day event, but others have been quick to place part of the blame for a lackluster PVDFest on changes implemented by Smiley, who is in the first year of his term as mayor.
Those changes include moving the festivities from downtown, where revelers in years past had filled block parties and surrounded music stages, to the 195 District Park, where the event covered both sides of the Providence River, linked by the pedestrian bridge. Smiley also moved the date of the event from June to September.
City officials have said these modifications were intended to better highlight the city and display local artists, but business owners have expressed concerns about being left out of conversations about the changes.
The Smiley administration did not specify what features might be altered next year, but noted dates are usually announced six months ahead of the event. Businesses are calling for change after leaving the rainy weekend with financial losses and damaged inventory.
John Kirk, owner of Masa Taqueria PVD LLC, has attended the festival for years and looks forward to participating as it provides a revenue boost to get through the summer. But after making only approximately $6,800 in sales, compared with the expected sales between $20,000 and $25,000, Kirk says he will not return unless changes are made.
“I don’t think there’s anyone who would agree with the mayor that this was a good festival,” Kirk said. “If they don’t go back to what they were doing it won't be worth it for me or any other food businesses to come to this event.”
Kirk said PVDFest felt like a “disorganized food truck festival” this year and suggested future events incorporate both the downtown area for block parties and use the bridge as space for the vendors and artisan markets.
Judith Barrett, owner of Candles by Judith LLC, says she came out of the weekend with a $100 loss and a feeling of disappointment with how the city handled PVDFest. She says she's hesitant to participate again.
Barrett set up shop along the river along with other vendors on Sunday expecting to make at least $500 in sales, but the rain started in the first hour. She says event staff told vendors to pack up and take shelter but keep their tents in place so attendees would not think the festival had been canceled. The rain ended up soaking through Barrett’s tent and damaging $600 worth of products.
Barrett says she hopes the city reimburses her for the damaged products, that more staff is hired in the future to assist vendors in severe weather and that PVDFest returns to its previous location and time of year.
“I felt disrespected at that festival,” Barrett said. “Providence businesses lost in the midst of changes.”
Michaela Antunes, city director of communications for economic development, said the administration’s review of this year’s PVDFest “...includes any damages or losses that businesses may have incurred caused by the extreme weather events that continue to impact Providence.”
Rick Simone, Federal Hill Commerce Association president, says the business owners he has spoken to have expressed similar concerns over PVDFest changes but are open to returning next year. And the attendees he saw before the rain started falling seemed to be enjoying the festival, Simone says.
So far, there has been no clear estimate of attendance at this year's PVDFest or a calculation of its economic impact.
The Smiley administration has noted, however, that the three-day event requires a lot of city resources, in both staffing and direct costs.
The estimated cost of this year’s PVDFest was between $750,000 and $800,000, with the city directly contributing $250,000, and the remaining funds coming from the event’s sponsors, according to Smiley’s office.
He adds that the festival is an “incredibly important investment for our many participating artists and the city” because of the platform it offers visitors to explore Providence and view local artwork.
Smiley has said publicly that eventually, he hopes the city can hand the event off to another entity that could run the event so that some city resources could be focused elsewhere. Antunes told PBN the possibility of PVDFest becoming its own entity “has long been discussed” by leaders and festival partners.
Simone, who is on the Providence Tourism Council, notes that the Smiley administration only had seven or eight months to plan his first PVDFest, compared with the typical one year needed to plan events of this size. Simone believes organizers are committed to listening to feedback and the event “will come back stronger.”
PVDFest is a waste of taxpayer money. Just using taxpayer money to buy votes.