It appears as though Newbo Evolve was, indeed a bust. An over $2 million bust.

The dismissal of Scott Tallman, architect of this month's "Newbo Evolve" festival, has been followed by an announcement from Go Cedar Rapids of just how much money was lost on the event.

It was also announced by the Go Cedar Rapids board of directors that Aaron McCreight was fired after reporting a $2.3 million loss of revenue. The organization's entire yearly budget is only $2 million.

KCRG reports the number of tickets sold at around 9,000, whereas reported capacity was 32,000. A sales target of 4,000 3-day passes was set, and the organization did not meet that goal, selling only 602.

Other takeaways from a news conference from Go Cedar Rapids today were that just over 8,300 concert-only tickets were sold, and 3,804 of the 3-day festival passes were given away, sure to be a controversial element of information.

It was suggested that not all vendor contracts were thoroughly reviewed and approved through appropriate channels in the chain of command.

It's clear a lot of problems plagued the Newbo Evolve festival from the beginning, and the dominoes are beginning to fall.

 

 

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