too many festivals. purpose to make money for businesses.

Raja, actually, festivals bring people into the city, which help make money for businesses, so you're right, from that standpoint, but if the alternative would be not to do any festivals at all, then the City of Alexandria, along with local businesses, wouldn't be bringing in people who buy items, which helps strengthen our commercial tax base. Having a strong commercial tax base also helps, or at least one would hope, lower personal property taxes, as well. Lastly, festivals help show what a multicultural city Alexandria is, and is something that we all, as citizens, can and should be very proud of, as well.

Festivals also raise money for nonprofits. The Irish Festival helps the Ballyshanners defray the costs of the St. Patrick's day parade, which brings a huge crowd out, which in turn spends money in Old Town supporting local businesses. What's bad about that? The City Birthday Festival is bascially a free fireworks show with music. Again, what's bad about that? Other festivals showcase different cultures and provide entertainment. If you don't like festivals, don't attend, but there's really nothing bad about them except some traffic inconvenience.

Gail, thanks for offering that clarification. As a member of the Ballyshaners, I can guarantee that this event is a fundraiser for the St. Patrick's Day parade. Our fees to fund the event continue to increase each year since the City has been increasing the proportion of expenses that we (and other groups) have to cover for community events. Our expenses include covering additional police staffing, city parks and rec staff time, amd renting the city's mobile stage among others.

We love bringing a great parade day to Old Town, and showcasing our city to visitors. Attendance at the fundraiser will be a huge help to our efforts. Beer sales are our primary means of raising money. In addition, we still pay for the cost of hosting the festival, so like most groups, we have to spend money to make money.