With $27 Million Impact, Fun Fun Fun Fest Joins the Big Boys

In its second year at Auditorium Shores, Fun Fun Fun Fest took off. Now the City of Austin puts that growth at $27 million – the amount the fest is estimated to have pumped into Austin’s economy.

The mayor’s office announced Tuesday that the three-day underground music festival attracted a total north of 55,000 attendees. The $27 million estimate was provided by the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Other notable figures:

• The festival is estimated to have created close to 1,100 total jobs this year, up from an estimated 700 last year.
• 55,000-plus total attendees (and a daily average of 18,000 attendees) represented a 17 percent boost in turnout over last year.
• On-site vendor sales grew by 24 percent and bar sales rose by 19 percent over last year.
• More than 2,500 bicycles were parked on-site at the festival grounds.

Remarks attached to the release also depict a burgeoning bro-mance between Mayor Lee Leffingwell and fest co-founder/Transmission Entertainment principal James Moody.

“Not only are we impacting our local economy and community more,” Moody says, “we are creatively growing as well, by adding more comedy, action sports, and things like our beloved taco cannon.” For his part, Leffingwell says “I am so proud of James Moody and all the folks at Transmission for putting on their most successful Fun Fun Fun Fest yet."

Fun Fun Fun Fest returns to Auditorium Shores in 2013.