Guavaween 2009

A Lesson to Learn by Bill Sharpe

Guavaween has been an Ybor tradition. It was a time of fun and frivolity that also generated serious revenues to area businesses and the Ybor Chamber of Commerce. But over the years the large crowds became an exepectation rather than something to be treasured.

There were many problems with Guavaween in 2009. But there are many lessons to learn.

It was a hotter day than normal - keeping more people away from the heat or sending them home earlier.
Being held on Halloween interferred with many families with younger kids and with those that have a regular costume party to attend.
The elimination of motorized floats discouaged attendance by many Gasparilla Krewes and viewers.
In a recession - the $17 entry fee was a burden to many.
The promotion of the event was inadequate at best.

Our phone started ringing on Saturday night with comments like: there's no one here. One business owner not on 7th said his weeknights were busier than Guavaween.

The promotion of the event was very poor. As recently as Monday, one promoter's website indicated an anticipated crowd of 80,000. Compare that to the actual estimate of attendance at 15,000.

As to poor promotion , that can be illustrated by merely visiting the Ybor Chamber of Commerce website where they proudly indicate Guavaween as an event but the info on their site is from 2008. You can see that here. (It will probably be promptly removed once we point it out)

Ybor businesses are not reacting very well to the results of Guavaween in 2009 and most
will be digesting just what all happened as they plan for the next year and hopefully some of the issues will be addressed.

There is an important lesson to the residents of Tampa - don't take things for granted in these economic times.
As discussion of limiting Gasparilla activities goes on, there needs to be caution in being sure that the golden goose of Gasparilla doesn't turn to the potentially dying corpse of Guavaween. This is an important message to area businesses especially. As you quit promoting your business and/or events, how do you possibly expect them to continue to succeed ? They won't. New businesses/events will come along and gradually your business/event will be forgotten.

We like Guavaween and Gasparilla. Yes they have their issues, but so does everything else. We will be working harder than ever to promote Gasparilla in 2010 and we plan to provide more assistance where possible in promoting events in Ybor City - including Guavaween. Let the Mama Guava Stumble Live On !