Beachevents in Va. Beach aims to keep crowds coming back

This evening - July Fourth - crowds could thrill to Who's Bad, a Michael Jackson tribute band, at 31st Street park in Virginia Beach; swing to Latin bands at 24th Street park; or groove to the rhythm and blues of Charlie Band at 17th Street park. ? A concert under the stars featuring Symphonicity and the Virginia Beach Chorale performing "Stars and Stripes Forever" and other patriotic tunes at 20th Street will segue into a fireworks display at 9:30 p.m.

Thousands of visitors and residents are expected to attend the Stars and Stripes Explosion at the Virginia Beach resort area. All events and concerts are free.

Behind it all is Integrated Management Group LLC, which won a five-year contract from the city in 2009 to organize Oceanfront entertainment.

Virginia Beach pays IMG a fee of $450,000 a year to manage Beachevents, the city's entertainment program. IMG also retains a percentage of sponsorship revenue.

IMG also manages Portsmouth's nTelos Wireless Pavilion. The company is owned by Ken MacDonald and Mike Jones of the Virginia Beach booking agency More Music Group.

"This is an important element as the city competes with other beach resorts in creating a first-class resort destination," said Mike Eason, resort administrator for the city of Virginia Beach.

Beachevents orchestrates a lineup of entertainment for tourists and locals. Events kick off in April and continue through New Year's Day. In the summer, nightly entertainment on beachfront stages and live street performances - magicians, stilt walkers and more - add flair to the resort strip.

It's mostly paid for by a mix of city taxes and corporate sponsorships. Beachgoers need to do little more than soak it in.

"The entertainment contract is an additional amenity which creates a family-friendly atmosphere to attract tourists and residents to the resort area," Eason said.

Last year, Virginia Beach had 14.1 million visitors including overnight and day visitors.

Most of the money for Beachevents comes from the Tourism Growth Investment Fund, also known as TGIF, derived from a mix of taxes paid by consumers and businesses in Virginia Beach. It includes 2-1/2 percentage points of the hotel tax, 1/2 percentage point of the restaurant meal tax, 2 percentage points of the amusement tax and 2 percentage points of Oceanfront franchises, the fees vendors and others pay for doing business on city property.

TGIF tax dollars go a long way toward paying for Beachevents' $2.5 million to $3 million budget, Eason said. Since taxes can fluctuate year-to-year, the city can supplement the amount Beachevents gets from TGIF.

Sponsorships and tickets sales also are part of the revenue cocktail. IMG earns a percentage of sponsorship dollars on a rising scale - the more sponsorships it sells, the more it makes.

Sponsorships are on track this year to reach approximately $400,000, said Bobby Melatti, Beachevents program director for IMG.

"The events are well-established and marketers look at the fact that they're free and open to the public," said Velvet Marshall, IMG's director of corporate sales and sponsorships. "Because the events are free, there is more confidence from marketers that they're going to be well-attended."

For advertisers, a free concert is a good bet for exposure since in the current economy many people don't have extra money to spend on entertainment.

Family events, such as the Family Adventure Series, are even more desirable for sponsorships, Marshall said. In the eight-night summer series, families participate in themed interactive adventures and watch movies on a giant inflatable screen on the beach. On June 23, "Jumanji" was shown and families played on a life-size version of the magic board game featured in the film.

Earlier this season, Pirate Party on the Beach, Hardee's Latin Fest and Sandstock drew large crowds of all ages and demographics to the Oceanfront. The Bloom grocery chain, Ocean Breeze Waterpark and the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center were among the sponsors targeting the audiences.

Marshall sells a variety of sponsorships for each festival or event. Companies can have their names splashed across posters on the Boardwalk and Atlantic Avenue or their logo on Beachevents' website, www.beachstreetusa.com, announcing upcoming events.

A name and title sponsorship gives the most exposure. Verizon Wireless stepped up with more than $100,000 for that branding opportunity with what is tagged the Verizon Wireless American Music Festival held Labor Day weekend. Nearly 100,000 attended people last year.

Beachevents is run largely by Melatti and Mike Hilton, the director of marketing, from an office on 22nd Street. Both previously worked for Live Nation, the company that formerly held the city's entertainment contract. Temporary security and production crews are hired for each event.

The two men have navigated the many challenges that come with putting on shows over the years. They know how to be flexible when a nor'easter blows in and keep to a schedule in a heat wave.

While most of the shows that Beachevents hosts are free, there are a few ticketed events during the year.

In May, 2,000 tickets were sold for each of the four Monsters on the Beach shows, which featured monster trucks playing in the sand.

This year's Verizon Wireless American Music Festival will include dozens of free music performances and three ticketed shows - Stone Temple Pilots, ZZ Top and Bret Michaels. Proceeds from ticket sales for those events go to cover event costs.

Tickets also are sold for Holiday Lights at the Beach, the festive display on the Boardwalk during the holiday season. Beachevents receives 20 percent of the gross proceeds from Holiday Lights to administer that program.

Revenue from concession and vendor fees also supports the events.

The entertainment keeps coming, all to help the registers ring and to put heads in beds.

When planning the next show, Hilton tries not to lose sight of the big picture.

"We are doing this so that we can draw visitors to the resort and to entertain local residents," he said.

Stacy Parker, (757) 222-5432, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com