by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Before the first musician walked out on stage, expectations were high for the 2011 edition of the Jacksonville Jazz Festival.
The three-day event marked its third year in the heart of Downtown this past weekend and again brought thousands of people to the urban core neighborhood.
Following a brief but substantial downpour late Friday afternoon, the weather cooperated with sunny skies, relatively mild temperatures and a cooling breeze during the remainder of the festival and through Memorial Day on Monday.
From Hemming Plaza along Laura Street to the Landing and in Downtown’s hotels, business was strong. One veteran merchant said it was almost historic.
“It was fantastic. We were only a couple of rooms short of a sellout Friday and Saturday nights and more than 800 people came each night to the after-hours jazz jam,” said Dan King, general manager of the 963-room Hyatt Downtown, the official host hotel of the festival.
“Our guests were very pleased with the event. It was a home run for Downtown and we can’t wait for next year,” he said.
The Omni Hotel also reported a lot of business.
“The hotel was busy, the bar and restaurant was busy. It was three days of good business. Compared to a usual Memorial Day weekend in a city core hotel, it was outstanding,” said Barry Sondern, Omni Hotel general manager.
Other businesses who open their doors year-round also reported a lot of traffic from the festival.
“We did almost triple the average café business and twice as much business as usual in the book store,” said Ron Chamblin, owner of Chamblin’s Uptown on Laura Street near the plaza.
Chamblin set up an outdoor food service area on the café’s patio, selling bratwurst, chicken fingers and beer.
“A lot of people came in who had never been to the store before. Many people said they didn’t know there was a book store Downtown,” he said.
“It was absolutely successful. I have nothing but positive things to say about the jazz festival,” said Chamblin.
At the Landing, business also was brisk with a high level of foot traffic.
“We had hundreds of visitors. We sold a lot of merchandise and a lot of people learned about our efforts to bring a ship museum Downtown,” said Barry Kryspin, spokesman for the Jacksonville Naval Ship Museum.
In addition to operating the store and naval artifact collection, the group of volunteers is also seeking to bring the guided missile destroyer USS Charles F. Adams to Jacksonville to serve as a living museum on the Southbank.
“We can never get too much exposure for that project,” said Kryspin.
In addition to the Friday-Sunday jazz festival, the Landing also was the site of Monday’s “Rock on the River,” an all-day alternative music concert sponsored by radio station X102.9.
“It was a nice crowd all weekend and created plenty of traffic in our retail areas,” said Landing General Manager Janice Lowe.
Doug Ganson, owner of Sundrez and Dipper Dan’s Ice Cream, set up to sell hot dogs and snow cones.
He said the combination of the two events brought the community Downtown, mostly couples and families for the three days of jazz followed by a younger crowd on Monday.
“I think the jazz festival is the best event of the year. It’s better than New Year’s Eve. This was the best four consecutive days we’ve had since Super Bowl,” said Ganson.
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