St. George Art Festival Racks In $30 Million

The City of St. George hosts its Art Festival every year bringing in thousands, and this year a Utah Tech University study showed just how much of an impact the festival had.

A City of St. George press release said that the study was conducted by UT Marketing Professor Kristy Grayson and her students. The study shows that the St. George Art Festival had a local economic impact of about $30 million.

The St. George Art Festival has been going on for over 40 years drawing food trucks, tourists, locals, and artists to the area. Held on Easter weekend of each year, the festival is a huge boon for the economy.

This year, the study found that 70 percent (23,000) of attendees were locals, and the rest were visitors to the area (30 percent). A total of 30,000 people attended the event. The study gathered information on the number of attendees and if they traveled from outside of the area. It also considered money spent on lodging, art festival shopping, eating at local restaurants, shopping at local stores, and any other local activities.

“We are thrilled by the support of the community in joining us this year for another fun-filled event with music, film, kids activities, food and lots of amazing artists,” said Michelle Graves, St. George’s Deputy Director of Art and Events. “We love providing this event and seeing the economic impact that comes to our community.”

Though the St. George Art Festival is over, the city is already looking forward to next year’s event. Artists, performers, and food vendor applications for the 2024 festival will open on Sept. 1, 2023.

attachment-Final-April 2023 St George Arts Festival Economic Impact Study