The Groove blooms again
By Cameron Meier,
SA Editor
The seeds of success have been re-sown at the Grove. After last year’s public-relations disaster, brought on by lower attendance and the introduction of a gate fee, the South Florida show mended fences this year, literally - by reconfiguring the site’s perimeter border. Event organizers also dressed staff members in more art-show-friendly attire and listened to exhibitors’ concerns. And although attendance was still nowhere near the levels seen before the addition of the gate fee (and probably never will be), sales were healthy and the quality of art was superb, good indications that the Coconut Grove Arts Festival has a strong future.
Carol Romine Hawks, in her last year as president and CEO, said attendance was about 225,000 but admitted it was a bit difficult to get an exact count because of the different types of tickets sold (the $5 one-day ticket and the $12 weekend pass). While she said "it was in the ballpark of last year," crowds appeared larger than in 2004, when SA estimated the total attendance at less than 100,000. In addition, Hawks said that 96,000 people attended on the first day this year. "That was a very good Saturday," Hawks said - and a vast improvement over opening day a year ago.
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