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Thunder By The Bay’s relocation to the
Sarasota Fairgrounds, $5 gate admission,
and a date change to mid-February
proved to be very successful this
year raising over $180,000 for Suncoast Charities
for Children. This is the most money the event has
ever raised for the charity which supports five local
non-profit agencies in Sarasota County (Children
First, The Florida Center, Loveland Center, The
Haven, and Sarasota County Special Olympics).
A report received from Research Data Services
indicated that the three-day music and motorcycle
festival yielded and economic impact of $7.1
Million and supported 5,900 room nights in area
lodgings. Total combined expenditures of out-ofcounty
visitors and donors to the event totaled
$3.8 Million, with over 93.8% of attendees
surveyed indicating that they plan to attend next
year’s Festival. Of the out-of-county (non-Sarasota
resident) attendees, 83.6% came from other parts
of Florida and 16.4% came from outside of Florida.
“Thunder By The Bay has always been raising
money of children, teens, and adults with special
needs in out local area. Each year necessary costs
to run the Festival increase. By charging a first
time $5 gate admission we were able to finally
move the needle on the net proceeds going back to
the charity which was our primary goal for this
year”, indicated Festival Director Lucy Nicandri.
Since the Festival first began, over $1.9 Million has
been raised for charity. Next year’s Festival is
scheduled to take place February 14th - 16th, 2020
at the Sarasota Fairgrounds. For more information
visit www.thunderbythebay.org.
Mid-February
proved to be very
successful this
year raising over
$180,000 for
Suncoast
Charities for
Children.
/www.thunderbythebay.org