For the first time since 1994, Aspen is not hosting the U.S. Comedy
Arts Festival the first week of March, and the town is in many cases
feeling the loss.
Hotel occupancy is down about 15 percent from this time last year, and
other businesses are lamenting the loss. But festival organizer Joe
Lang says the event will be back next year if he has anything to do
with it.
"It was a signature Aspen event," Lang said this week. "There is a lot of energy for its return in 2009."
Lang said he is searching for and negotiating with new underwriters for
the event, which was sponsored by the HBO cable network for its entire
13-year history here.
"We were very fortunate that HBO supported it for so long," Lang added,
"and we can only hope to get a sponsor or sponsors to do the same."
Television networks and new media companies are vying for putting their
name on the resurgent event, Lang said.
It was the biggest annual comedy event in the United States. Part
industry conference and part laughter lollapalooza, it drew the best in
comedy. Last year participants included Stephen Colbert, the cast of
"Entourage," Steven Wright and George Carlin.
Meanwhile, local business owners say they're taking a hit from the festival's absence.
"This is the weakest time I've had all season," said Terry Butler, who
owns and operates The Residence Hotel on Galena Street in Aspen.
Last year during Comedy Fest, 96 percent of hotel rooms in Aspen were occupied, according to booking agency Stay Aspen Snowmass.
But the St. Regis - the hotel that officially hosted the comedians,
industry executives and writers that came for the festival - says it's
doing just fine without them.
Heather Rousseau/Aspen Daily NewsBentley’s patrons laugh it up on Thursday. The pub was a popular spot for Comedy Fest talent.
"We're seeing double-digit revenue growth over this time last year,"
said Senih Geray, general manager of the St. Regis. "We had been
worried last year when they announced they weren't coming back, but we
had a whole year to sell the rooms."
Increased room rates and an influx of international travelers have also
helped compensate for the conference group loss, Geray said.
But rising room rates during this high ski season period were also a
factor in the festival's leaving Aspen (originally, it was rumored to
be moving to Santa Barbara, Calif., but in the end, the fest was
dissolved completely).
Flight delays and cancellations that made getting into Aspen difficult
were also a factor. And HBO chairman and CEO Chris Albrecht - who
brought the festival to Aspen and kept it here for 13 years - was
arrested for assaulting his girlfriend in Las Vegas and fired from HBO
only days before the company announced it was taking the festival out
of Aspen.
"With a huge, huge event like this, with so many moving parts and so
many different people making decisions, it's impossible to know exactly
where this decision was made," said Aspen Chamber Resort Association
President Debbie Braun.
Although the Aspen Skiing Co. lamented the influx of non-lift-ticket
buying tourists the festival brought with it, those charged with
selling the Aspen brand year-round say the marketing impact of the
USCAF was huge, and will be missed.
"The public relations value of that event was just immeasurable," said Lisa Johnson of the Aspen Chamber Resort Association.
It seemed to be business as usual at Bentley's at the Wheeler this week, a between-shows hub during the festival.
"I think business is probably down a little bit," said bartender Darcy
Wissenborn. "But it's still been pretty busy. More than that, I miss
having the comics in here. The ones that didn't ski would hang out in
here all day. . . I think most locals miss it, just because it was so
much fun."
atravers@aspendailynews.com
