Laconiafest Weirs Drive In

[Descant]

As an old timer, I remember when the public had access to the Weirs on Bike Week. Come by car, come by boat. See the bike "Beauty Contest" on the boardwalk, clubs in parade, other events. Now you can't get there except by bike, so I'm not allowed. The city makes about $40K on vendor permits, about what it costs in extra police overtime. Businesses make some extra, and there's a lot of publicity, but I don't know if the extra publicity translates to more tourism traffic through the rest of the summer. Adding police details and vendor fees is not:"managing": an event. I look at the comments around "Laconia Fest" on the Forum. City Council should hire a professional event management firm and make some money and positive publicity. As it is, it appears they break even on vendor fees and police details and the publicity to encourage people to come later in the season or off season is negligible.