How has the town fared with Fall Festival? Here’s an overview

When the Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce made the decision to divest itself of the Pahrump Fall Festival, the town of Pahrump stepped in to reassume the popular community event.

Over the last three years, the town has had to put in a little more cash each year to cover the cost of throwing the festival. In 2021, net losses came to about $5,000 and for 2022, they were around $6,500 but the biggest loss was seen in 2023 at more than $27,000. Offering some details as to why the loss was so much higher than what was previously seen, Pahrump staff member Courtney Kenney said much of the difference came down to the carnival, which was not well received for various reasons.

“A lot of what we heard from the public, issues, complaints, I know ticket pricing was a big one. The biggest change for 2023 was online carnival ticket sales,” Kenney told Nye County commissioners, sitting as the governing body of the town of Pahrump, during the Feb. 16 meeting.

She noted that using an online service did not go over well, leading officials to the opinion that the public would prefer to buy carnival tickets at set locations throughout the town, as in years past. In addition, the online tickets included processing fees that buyers were not expecting, something that created quite a bit of upset. With carnival tickets already pricey, Kenney said many decided not to buy online due to those additional fees.

As to the split carnival sessions the Saturday of the event, this was another aspect that disappointed the community.

All of these factors coalesced to result in the decrease in revenue from the carnival, which was down more than $10,000 last year compared to 2022.

Another factor effecting overall revenue was alcohol sales. When it comes to this service, Kenney said the town has tried using both for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations. After comparing the two methods, utilizing bars for that service has become a clear favorite for the town.

She said allowing nonprofit organizations to provide the alcoholic beverages created a lot of work for town staff. It also left questions as to potential revenue from alcohol sales. When working with bars, this was not an issue as the bars signed on to alcohol sponsorships at a designated price.

One feature of the Fall Festival that is steadily growing is vendor booths, which has seen around $3,000 in increased profits every year for the last three years. In an attempt to defray the net losses for 2024, Kenney said the town was raising the number of available vendor spaces from 185 to 200. The cost of each vendor space has been bumped up by $50 as well. For-profit businesses are being charged $250 per space and nonprofit organizations are being charged $100 this year, with no charge for electricity.

Touching on a contentious topic from last year’s event, commissioner Frank Carbone asked about the entertainment.

“For 2024, we’re going to be handling entertainment the same way, we will be doing the stage and lighting. We’re going to be sending out and requesting proposals, whether it’s from volunteers or companies, we’re accepting proposals and Jimmy and I will select the best proposal,” Kenney explained regarding who would take lead on entertainment.

Commissioner Bruce Jabbour then asked about local bands and performers.

Kenny replied that the price some local performers want to be paid is too high and unlike with Las Vegas acts, there is little room for negotiation. Therefore, because of the problems encountered last year, the town will be offering specific stage times at specific prices.

“One thing Jimmy and I will be moving to is, with entertainment, we’re going to be saying, this is the time slot we have and this is the set fee we’ll be paying for a two-person band, a three-person band, etcetera. This is the set fee.”