Next year’s Columbus Spring Pilgrimage will last 16 days instead of the usual 12.
Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Executive Director Nancy Carpenter told tourism partners Tuesday that plans to capitalize on the success of the 2013 Pilgrimage led to the extension.
The two-week tour and celebration of historic Columbus homes and culture will begin March 28 and run through April 12 next year. It will be the 74th edition of the Pilgrimage, which again has been named a “Top 20 event in the Southeast” by the Southeast Tourism Society. The Pilgrimage was first given that distinction in 1986.
The strategic promotion from Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation, the event’s main sponsor, helped the event achieve some of its most successful attendance totals in a decade earlier this year. Revenues from the Pilgrimage tickets jumped 38 percent over 2012, leading to an economic impact that nearly eclipsed $1 million, Carpenter said. The event competed against others in the Southeastern Tourism Society’s 12-state area and was selected by a panel of independent judges evaluating a region-wide pool of nominations.
“I think it’s significant that for over 20 years the Columbus Spring Pilgrimage has been chosen as one of the ‘Top 20 events of the Southeast’. When you look at the inclusion and the other states, it pleases us very much that others see the significance of our Pilgrimage, which last year did compete with other home and garden tours throughout the South as far as increasing our revenue and our visits by tourists,” Carpenter said. “What you’re trying to create in tourism is overnight stays, and when you have people that participate from 19 countries and 46 states, you know a lot of those people are spending the night.”
Carpenter said more than 400 volunteers participated in this year’s event and she expects that same amount in 2014.
82 Bridge likely to reopen in time for BBQ & Blues
City officials have yet to specify a date for when the old Highway 82 bridge will reopen after undergoing large-scale renovations, but Carpenter said she feels “confident” it will be ready in time for the BBQ & Blues festival on Oct. 18.
A “Visit Columbus” flier promoting the event encourages potential attendees to celebrate the reopening of the Old Tombigbee River bridge at Columbus Riverwalk.
Carpenter said Columbus Mayor Robert Smith has indicated the bridge would re-open in September, so the event was scheduled for the following month.
“The ribbon cutting may take place before the festival,” Carpenter said. “I feel very confident we’re going to re-open the bridge in time.”
Festival organizers can apply for MDA grants
The Mississippi Development Authority’s tourism division has set aside $250,000 for festival organizers across the state to apply for marketing and promotion grants.
The maximum award organizers can receive is $5,000, and an advertising and marketing plan must be sent to MDA by Aug. 23 to be considered for events beginning Oct. 1 and running through June 30. Organizers can apply for and receive funding for three consecutive years before having to sit out one year. Stipulations allow organizers to be eligible again after that time, Carpenter said.
“The event grant is very much like (a CVB) marketing grant. One of the things is that you must have a financial letter of support from the local tourism authority or the local city government,” she said. “Just like the CVB, you must have an advertising and marketing plan ahead of time.”
Carpenter said event organizers interested in obtaining letters of support can call the CVB office at (662) 329-1191.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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