B Y DANIELLE PHILLIPS
Snoe.Down 2010 drew large crowds to the area
Rutland County saw in influx of visitors the last weekend in March and this time it was not simply for the above-average spring skiing that Killington offers.From March 26 to March 28th, Rutland and Killington hosted the snoe.down 2010, featuring popular jam band moe.
They played Friday and Saturday night at the Spartan Arena and a free show at Killington’s annual Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge Saturday afternoon, with a special VIP acoustic performance at the Wobbly Barn on Sunday morning. The weekend event attracted over 5,000 people to the area who not only bought tickets to the show, but stayed in the area’s hotels, ate at the area’s restaurants, and bought lift tickets, food, etc. at Killington.
This burst of visitors provided a great boost for the local economy and showed how a well planned event like this can bring a lot of money into an area.
Throughout the resort town there were many guests visiting for the skiing and not the festival complaining at the lack of open hotel rooms in Rutland County due to the festival.
Performances by moe. and all of the supporting bands were “phenomenal” and “the best music in the area for a long time,” according to a visitor attending the show at Killington.
Another stated that, “It’s awesome not to have to go all the way to Burlington to rock out,” showing what a great choice it was to hold the festival here.
A band like moe. has such an eclectic following that it attracts many different demographics, diversifying the ways in which they spend their time in the area.
In speaking with a guest to Killington, unrelated to the festival, she said that she was driving through Rutland after the concert had gotten out on Friday and was a little baffled at the variety of people walking out.
“You can usually tell what kind of band is playing by the people walking out of the concert, but there was such a variety that I couldn’t get a read,” she said. “My initial reaction was that they must be really great if they attract such a diverse group of followers.”
Bringing the right band to the area was key to the success of this festival. Killington usually brings in a band to play at the Bear Mountain Mogul Challenge or other events like the snowboarding Grand Prix that they hosted the previous two years, but nothing in recent history has been as successful as this event.
A Killington employee who worked outside throughout the weekend festivities at Killington summed it up perfectly, “It was awesome to see so many people together celebrating rockin’ music, great spring skiing, and of course cold beer. It’s awesome to see an event bring so much activity to the area.”
