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Image Source: City of Albuquerque
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Mayor J. William Reynolds isn’t exaggerating when he says he couldn’t imagine his hometown without Musikfest. The 43-year-old was born two years before the August festival’s launch in 1984, and he can’t remember a year missing the event. Fittingly, Reynolds’ son was born during last year’s MusikFest.
“I can tell you that Musikfest and the vibe that brings people here is the same vibe that makes people want to live here, work here, stay here, and raise a family here,” said Reynolds.
A record 1.3 million people made their way to the 10-day event in 2023 – a boon financially and culturally for Bethlehem and the surrounding Lehigh Valley. Not every destination is blessed to be steps from a beach or at the foot of a mountain, but many cities are finding creative ways to showcase their strengths and local flavors.
Finding a niche through a festival, incentive program, or other cultural phenomenon is proving effective in an era affected by pandemic-era population shifts and the rise in remote work opportunities.
Here, we look at how three communities, including Bethlehem, are riding a wave of self-made popularity.
Typically, the sound of a toilet flushing is a metaphor for money going to waste. But the City of Albuquerque is turning the old adage on its head.
The 2024 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta – the 52nd overall – will be the first with working plumbing. The upgrades are part of a $5.8 million infrastructure improvement at Balloon Fiesta Park, a project made possible by the international festival that soars to new heights each year.
The October event is responsible for an estimated annual economic impact of $203 million and has deep-rooted emotional ties. “It is an incredible showpiece for our city and our state,” said Albuquerque Chief Administrative Officer Samantha Sengel. “It is a truly cherished event for our community that lives here, bringing folks from all across the state and the world.”
Originally conceived to mark the 50th anniversary of a local television station (KOB) in 1972, the fiesta began in the parking lot of Coronado Center Mall and featured a mere 13 balloons. Little did the 10,000 guests in attendance know they were witnessing the launch of an iconic event.
In 2023, attendance reached a record high of 968,516 – well within the shadow of 1 million attendees. That figure is a nearly 140,000 jump from the 828,800 at the 2022 Fiesta, which marked the event’s first half-century. Residents of 44 other states and several countries including Germany, Portugal, Canada, and the United Kingdom, comprise the visitors and competing balloonists.
Economic reports place attendee spending at more than $19 million at local restaurants and $43 million for lodging. The results yield $2.51 million in lodgers’ tax and hospitality fees for the Albuquerque area.
Image Source: City of Albuquerque
Sengel added that many of the 40 food vendors and 40 merchandisers who serve festivalgoers make as much in Fiesta’s one week as they do during the rest of the year combined. Many balloonists choose to live in the area to enjoy the vast air space and pristine blue skies – rumored to be the inspiration for the beginning of “The Simpsons” opening credits.
“If you take the balloons, the landscape, and our blue skies and put them together, it really paints an incredible palette for us to capitalize on the beauty of New Mexico,” said Sengel.
Looking to build on the Fiesta’s global reputation, Albuquerque continues to invest in Balloon Fiesta Park, which the city owns and operates. Beyond the plumbing upgrades, electrical improvements, Wi-Fi, pedestrian walkways, and increased parking are planned for the facility.
The projects will not only increase the experience for the Balloon Fiesta but also provide capacity for more events at the park, including a cricket tournament featuring American and international athletes, which was held there this year. There’s also hope Albuquerque will be successful in its bid to attract a minor league soccer team that would play at a new stadium on the park’s grounds.
Over the course of Mayor Reynolds’ lifetime, Musikfest has grown into the nation’s largest free music festival and one of the top events in the Northeastern United States. Lehigh Valley is a short drive from New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., yet 1.33 million attendees in 2023 came from 45 states and 10 countries. Kassie Hilgert, president and CEO of ArtsQuest, the nonprofit organization responsible for Musikfest, placed the economic impact at $77 million last year.
Despite its expansion, the festival has never strayed from its roots. A former steel town, Bethlehem faced a choice of standing idly as its primary industry lost steam or creating a new yet still authentic identity. Hilgert explained music was a natural choice given the community’s Moravian heritage, which dates back to a group of immigrants from Germany who settled near the Lehigh River in 1741. Musicians were a part of the first settlers from this group and are credited with establishing arguably the oldest musical group in America, the Bethlehem Area Moravian Trombone Choir.
In 1984, a new tradition made for and by the people of Lehigh Valley began. To this day, Musikfest remains an all-volunteer endeavor that is almost entirely free – except for one stage featuring household names. A pivotal moment in the festival’s history occurred in 2011 with the integration of the city’s revitalized SteelStacks – a 10-acre arts-based campus that doubled Musikfest’s imprint and changed the experience.
“The festival now has two distinct personalities: One on the south side and one on the north side,” said Hilgert.
The expansion allowed more local businesses to showcase their offerings to out-of-towners, building a reputation almost as powerful as the headline acts in terms of drawing power.
“Musikfest is really a kind of commercial for what our community is all about,” said Reynolds. “People come together from all over the place. Sometimes, you know the people, sometimes you don’t. You’re walking around; you’re hearing good music; you’re supporting small businesses, and you’re spending time with each other.”
Image Source: Discover Lehigh Valley
At the turn of the 20th century, prospectors struck black gold in Tulsa, which held the title of the Oil Capital of the World until the 1970s. Flowing almost as freely as the crude in the early 1900s were those planting their roots in the city. While trying to cash in, these citizens enriched Tulsa with their dedication to growing the community into a place where people would want to work and live.
In a sense, history is repeating itself with outsiders settling down and proactively joining a community-wide effort to invest in Tulsa.
Among the biggest draws is the Tulsa Remote program, conceived of and funded by the George Kaiser Family Foundation. Starting in 2019, the initiative paid out-of-towners $10,000 to live in Tulsa for a year – the idea being that remote workers would enjoy the cost of living and cultural amenities so much they would want to stay.
Perhaps ahead of its time in 2019, the program became a catalyst for moving in a rapidly changing economy in which remote work gained acceptance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus far, more than 3,000 individuals have been awarded the financial stipend to live in Tulsa, and 94 percent have elected to stay, said Mayor George “G.T.” Bynum.
“When it was first proposed, I think all of us were a little worried that it sounded pretty desperate,” the mayor said of the incentive program. “It really ended up being a very effective marketing tool for our city.”
Bynum compared the program’s competitiveness to admittance into an Ivy League university. Among the deciding factors is the Kaiser Foundation seeks out individuals with a history of giving back to their city, which has played out in Tulsa as well. Bynum, who is not seeking a third term in office, noted one of the top mayoral candidates in the 2024 election is a person who moved to the city through the remote work program.
As Bynum can attest, Tulsa presents the opportunity for young professionals to become active in civic interests. The mayor, for instance, grew up in Tulsa before going to Villanova University in Philadelphia and then worked as a Senate aide in Washington, D.C. He returned home to start a family and was on the city council two years later. After eight years in the council, he became mayor in 2016.
Even those not interested in politics are responsible for a gold rush of economic development, said Bynum. Taxpayers have shown the willingness to pay for culturally enriching venues such as the BOK Center, USA BMX Headquarters and Hall of Fame, and the ongoing redevelopment of the Gilcrease Museum, an arts center managed by the University of Tulsa.
Without those projects, the remote workers may never have gained interest in Tulsa, noted the mayor. “We’re on a 22-year run now at this point of Tulsans investing in our community in record-level ways,” boasted Bynum.
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