ComFest encapsulates Columbus drinking trends; Is beer on the way out?
Summertime is festival time, and the grandaddy of them all is almost here. ComFest opens Friday at Goodale Park, promising peace, love, music and arts, just as it has most years since 1972.
But unlike the days when an overflow crowd of part-time hippies would consume enough beer to float a small boat while catching a buzz to the psychedelic music of Country Joe & the Fish, today’s ComFest might be described as a bit smaller and a bit more … tame.
The mission has stayed the same – to entertain the public, support the arts and donate proceeds from the sales of drinks and crafts to a litany of progressive, local causes. But the crowds are smaller. And they’re drinking a whole lot less beer.
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Former bar manager Jen Secrest is in charge of libations for the annual festival. This will be her 31st ComFest and probably one of the driest. “I remember just a few years ago when we would sell more than 2,000 kegs of beer in three days,” she recently said. “Last year, we barely sold 300.”
Not that anyone can rightfully say that drinking less alcohol is bad for people. “We don’t want to shake our fists at the world and say, ‘Why don’t you drink more?’”, Secrest said. But it kinda hurts when your business model is based primarily on selling alcoholic beverages.
“It’s been a gradual decrease in beer drinking,” she added. “We saw it starting about 2015.” ComFest tried selling cocktails, and the festival still holds a liquor license. But that was too labor-intensive. So, this year, they will continue to introduce more lemonades, fruit drinks and several flavors of Truly-brand, low-alcohol seltzers.
Secrest said she has heard from many festival patrons who would like to see ComFest add THC drinks to their offerings. “But unfortunately, we can’t do that for them,” she said. The legality of selling THC-infused drinks here is far from settled. “We wanted to last year,” she said. “And we planned to. But at the last minute, our attorney advised against it. It’s frustrating. I wish Ohio would put it in black and white for us.”
Others say they doubt that the addition of THC drinks would help the festival’s bottom line. Ro-z Mendelson is the organization’s elected treasurer. “I’m not sure that THC drinks would even come close to the revenue we had with beer,” he said. “And there are a lot of problems with it. The state is trying to ban it. it.”
Mendelson sees more than a societal change in drinking habits as cause for the gradual downturn in attendance. “The problem is, when we started out and over the years, there might have been five festivals the whole summer,” he said. “Now, there are three or more a week. At one time, we were the main thing happening. We’re in a market that’s oversaturated.”
So, the crowds are smaller. There are fewer entertainment stages. Fewer people are stepping up to volunteer. But the goals for the festival that started 54 years ago are the same. And the giving continues. During better years, ComFest has been able to bank some money. And so far, the designated recipients of their community outreadh have not suffered. “We’ve given out in grants and other benefits more than $800,000. We even gave during the first year of COVID,” said Mendelson. “And we’ve done it without sponsors.”
Organizations benefiting from ComFest’s generosity have included Motherful (support for single mothers), Mission Warmth (for the unhoused), Open Shelter, CityMusic Columbus and Goodale Park, itself. But as crowds and drink sales continue to dwindle, questions arise about the festival’s future viability.
“I would hope that we have a few years more,” said Mendelson. “I’m optimistic that we can continue for a while. But I’m also cognizant that bad things can happen, and they can happen quickly. People need to be aware that we need support. And if we’re not supported, ComFest will go away.”
To support the “Party with a Purpose” by being a volunteer or with your donations, visit comfest.com.
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