City says Sterlingfest becoming more cost-effective

STERLING HEIGHTS — It’s not the sort of topic that takes the main stage, but the Sterlingfest Art and Music Fair continues to be a success both in popularity and in keeping costs manageable, according to Sterling Heights city officials.

During a Jan. 3 City Council meeting, Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool called the event a “point of pride” that makes the city a destination. He estimated that almost 150,000 people recently went to Sterlingfest, which takes place annually in July in the area of Dodge Park and the city center campus.

Vanderpool said the city is already working hard to plan Sterlingfest for this upcoming summer. He called the task of organizing it a “complicated endeavor” that involves the contributions of hundreds of people.

Vanderpool said Sterlingfest recently had a budget of just over $600,000 in spending. He said that, despite inflation, the event’s net cost has actually decreased over time, from $270,000 in 2008 to $227,000 in 2023.

“Now you may be wondering, how in the world can your net cost be going down in light of inflation and increased wages and increased entertainment costs, and so on and so forth,” Vanderpool said. “We’ve been working really hard to reimagine, refresh, update and do all that we can to make Sterlingfest more efficient, more cost-effective.”

He explained that one way the city managed to do this is by offsetting expenses with more revenue. Branches of revenue include proceeds from the beer tent, the carnival, art and food vendors’ fees, and corporate donations, he said.

Vanderpool added that Sterlingfest’s revenue is now more than $400,000, and he said it included a record high year for corporate donations of almost $140,000. He added that the event’s overtime costs for setup and takedown also slightly declined since 2008.

He ultimately tabulated the event’s cost to residents at around $1.70 per person in Sterling Heights.

“Think about the parties you may have: a graduation, a wedding,” he said. “You know, $1.70 per capita – not going to happen.”

Vanderpool praised the partnership the city has with the Connect Macomb chamber of commerce in organizing Sterlingfest. He said Connect Macomb supplies around 125 volunteers for the event, adding that it saves the city “tens of thousands of dollars.”

For its contribution, Connect Macomb gets a portion of revenue sharing through an agreement with the city.

“So this is win-win for so many parties,” he added.

Sterling Heights Community Relations Director Melanie Davis said after the meeting that the revenue-sharing partnership helped Connect Macomb earn $66,690 in net income from the beer pavilion, and also helped the city earn $146,381 in net income.

Stacy Ziarko, Connect Macomb’s president and CEO, spoke at the meeting and called Sterlingfest one of the summer’s best weekends.

“We love being a part of the festival,” Ziarko said. “Our team, you know, works each year to make it better and a little bit more efficient within the beer tent, within the carnival. And so we look forward to many more years of partnering with all of you.”

Before concluding the topic, Vanderpool said the city will reveal more details about this year’s upcoming Sterlingfest in a few months.

Learn more about Sterlingfest by visiting sterlingfest.info.