Abbey Road On The River 2019 Recap, Review, and Media Report

MAY 2018

Abbey Road on the River J E F F E R S O N V I L L E ,

I N

This year was our 17th AROTR, marking 50 years since 1968. We celebrated with performances of The White Album and a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr and Bobby Kennedy with a live presentation of Dion's "Abraham, Martin and John". We jammed out with rock-stars in Vanilla Fudge, sang along with the wonderfully talented America, and learned so much from the knowledgeable and witty Geoff Emerick.

We had amazing concerts including an all-day concert event counting down the Top 100 Beatles Songs, the LOVE Album Concert, Muscle Shoals for Rubber Souls, and tributes to Tom Petty, Chicago, Queen and Pink Floyd. This year was such a blast and we couldn't do this without you. Thank you to everyone who came and participated in the fun and for loving the Beatles as much as we do. We'll see you next year! ✌❤ It’s quite a thrill to welcome Abbey Road on the River back to Jeffersonville for the second year! We’re excited to see all of the friends we made last year come back again – and we’re looking forward to making new friends who are visiting us for the first time!

We’ve been working over the past year to make sure your experience here is safe, musical and fun. In addition to the fabulous music you’ve come to expect from Abbey Road on the River, you’ll find plenty of other things to enjoy while you’re in Jeffersonville.

Big Four Station Park - at the foot of the Big Four Pedestrian Bridge - is a fantastic venue for Abbey Road on the River and is a jewel in our city.

Located near the Ohio River, Big Four Station Park is also in the heart of our flourishing downtown, so a walk around the area will give you ample opportunities to explore, shop, dine and relax.

Locals are proud to call Jeffersonville home so you can expect to see a lot of smiling faces while you’re out and about. We hope you will enjoy the charm of our river city while embracing the first class entertainment opportunities we have to share. So sit back and relax - we think you’ll feel right at home here!

Southern Indiana is SoIN to the Beatles!

Once again, we are rolling out our welcome mat! If this is your first time to Abbey Road on the River, you’re in for a real treat. The City of Jeffersonville and all of us in SoIN (southern Indiana) welcome you to the second year of Abbey Road on the River held in Jeffersonville.

We hope you’re enjoying Big Four Station Park, Jeffersonville and all of SoIN. We’ve been working with our partners to make your stay in our communities memorable. Visit us at our booths (at the festival and at host hotels) for area information or to share your photos on the big screen of our social media wall.

Before or after the festival, we encourage you to explore downtown Jeffersonville, Clarksville, New Albany, and all the surrounding communities in SoIN. There’s so much to see and do.

Thanks for coming!

Jim Epperson Executive Director, SoIN Tourism

We can all use a little more love and peace in our lives – even for just a long weekend. You will get that and much more at the WAVE 3 News Abbey Road on the River.

Enjoy the outstanding music. Enjoy the beautiful venue – Big Four Station Park. Enjoy the happy people and positive vibe.

We appreciate celebrating the unofficial start of summer with you.

We also appreciate serving you and this great community, as we celebrate our 70th year.

Best Regards, Ken Selvaggi VP/GM WAVE 3 News

OUR 2018 HEADLINERS GEOFF EMERICK Iconic Beatles recording engineer Best known for work on Beatles albums Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles (The White Album) and Abbey Road He stands out as a true pioneer in the business, having won lifetime achievement awards and multiple Grammys.

He has been a major influence in shaping the music industry for the past 50 years.

Gave two presentations over the weekend, one to our customers and one to our bands, who could ask in-depth questions

AMERICA 70's soft rock band Best known for their songs “A Horse With No Name”, "Sister Golden Hair" and "Tin Man" Worked with Beatles producer, George Martin, in his post-Beatles career

VANILLA FUDGE Best known for their dramatic heavy, sloweddown arrangements of contemporary pop songs which they developed into works of epic proportion.

Recorded their first single in 1967, the heavyrocking, trippy and psychedelic version of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On” Vanilla Fudge, the album, was released on June 2, 1967 the day after The Beatles' released their Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

PLUS 50 MORE BEATLES & CLASSIC ROCK TRIBUTE BANDS

WHAT OUR FANS SAY "Love the new location in Jeff! I appreciated the bigger food selection this year, and all of the additional artistic elements were awesome! The event is a lot easier to navigate at the Big Four Park, and it’s even better that you can come and go and explore downtown Jeff. I look forward to next year already!"

-Jen London

"My first visit and what a great time!

The band's were great. The stages were offset so you could hear the band in front of you. The vendors were so friendly. We explored all of Jeffersonville and Louisville. Couldn't have asked for a better weekend."

-Sue Clark

"The best music festival anywhere, any time, year after year... And this festival is LOADED with talent, from the crew to the musicians to the die-hard fans. I can't think of a better way to spend five days of every year."

-Kelly Knight

Abbey Road on the River J E F F E R S O N V I L L E ,

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"Best music festival I've ever been to!

We have planned our year around this festival for the last 17 years.

Nothing keeps us away! From the promoter, to the bands, to the staff -it is amazing in every way!!!"

-Kelly Williamson Ellis "Love, Love, Love. Great venue, nicely laid out.

Great talent, the 100 count down was a great idea since it eliminated a lot of duplicates.

Great crowd!

What can I say I loved every minute and that’s all I need."

-Patricia A Dehne-Olberding

"My first visit and what a great time! The band's were great. The stages were offset so you could hear the band in front of you. The vendors were so friendly. We explored all of Jeffersonville and Louisville. Couldn't have asked for a better weekend."

-Sue Clark

"Love AROTR. We live close by & it’s so accessible. We are very proud of our small town Americana “Jeff” -- the sunny side of Louisville. It’s the perfect place to host this wonderful festival with not only Beatle bands from around the world but 60’s & 70’s music too. Much appreciation to all the folks that make this happen! Long live Abbey Road on the River!"

-Patti Saylor Beyl

"It was our first time ever attending, and we absolutely LOVED it!

Everything was very well organized.

The variety of bands was awesome; the venue was beautiful and clean.

We loved exploring the town of Jeffersonville. Everyone we came into contact with was so friendly and upbeat. We will DEFINITELY be back!"

--Cathy and Don Schaeffer

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Abbey Road On The River participates and contributes to a wide range of community engagement activities: Since May 2017, we have donated over $20,000 to various humanitarian causes, including $1,500 to the Parkland Student's March For Life, and $2,000 to victims of the Las Vegas concert massacre and other victims of gun and terror related incidents.

Plus, we donated $11,000 to Puerto Rican Hurricane Relief which was deposited directly to Puerto Rican Abbey Road On The River band The Jukebox. They used the funds to purchase food and supplies for their neighbors in need.

Our 21 and under tickets are free!

We partner with Jeffersonville Arts Alliance to create an interactive family arts experience at the festival.

We donate tickets to various non-profits and charity auctions in the community.

The boy scout troops and their parents help with the maintenance and cleanliness of our festival, and they raise over $20,000 annually for camping expeditions.

In 2018, we offered free tickets to public service workers, veterans and teachers on Memorial Day Monday.

Puerto Rican band The Jukebox purchased food and supplies for their neighbors in need after the devastation of Hurricane Maria.

Videos of their efforts can be found on their Facebook page: @jukeboxbeatlestribute

We worked with the Jeffersonville Arts Alliance to create an incredible art installation in the center of the festival.

"I know what a feat this is to pull off working with so many bands and a relatively new venue, but I think they have done a great job in pulling it all together. I think it is such a great addition to have the Big Four walking bridge entrance right there next to the venue."

-Sandy Dolan "My deepest gratitude and thanks to Gary Jacob and staff. I don't know how you do it!

Without you we would not have the such Joy, Love and Friendships in our lives. You go above and beyond. You guys and gals did an amazing job as always."

-Sam Taylor

MEDIA & MARKETING Between May 17 – May 29, 2018 Abbey Road on the River earned media coverage across broadcast, print, and online media with a calculated publicity value over $123,000.

The festival received coverage from: WAVE 3 News (NBC affiliate) WLKY (CBS affiliate) WHAS (ABC affiliate) 89.3 WFPL news radio 91.9 WFPK Independent Louisville The Louisville Courier-Journal The Evening News & Tribune The Lexington Herald-Leader InsiderLouisville.com Styleblueprint.com Brides online TripSavvy.com InwoodGazette.com

AROTR was interviewed by 7 regionals radio stations during a press junket held at the Kentucky Derby Museum during Kentucky Derby week.

To view more recent press, click here.

Article by The Louisville Courier-Journal published on May 24, 2018

ADVERTISING, PROMOTIONS, AND MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS TELEVISION Title sponsor WAVE 3 News ran spots (:15 and :30) across their main channel and Bounce channel more than 1,300 times, with an estimated value of $88,000.

On-air contest on Good Morning Cincinnati (CBS affiliate) in Cincinnati, OH

DIGITAL Festival sponsor Southern Indiana Tourism ran a digital campaign with WAVE 3 News promoting AROTR valued at $8,000. The video and display ads targeted Indianapolis, Evansville, Lexington, and Columbus, Ohio. The ads were viewed more than 940,000 times and had more than 5,800 engagements Invested more than $5,000 in targeted Facebook ads and boosted posts.

Ticket giveaways and online promotions with Yelp.com and LouisvilleFamilyFun.net (delivered more than 10,000 impressions to local families).

RADIO 24-week promotion on Joe Johnson’s nationally syndicated Beatle Brunch Radio Show A five-month campaign with radio sponsor 103.5 WAKY valued at $23,000.

Local public radio affiliate 91.9 WFPK Independent Louisville ran an on-air and online campaign valued over $5,500.

On-air contest on 94.5 Hippie Radio in Nashville, TN. Ticket giveaways and on-air contest with six other regional radio stations.

Results from the WAVE 3 digital campaign February 23May 22, 2018:

PRINT Two-page spread in the April issue and a four-page spread in the May issue of Louisville Magazine (monthly readership of 130,000), valued over $24,000.

Full page ad in LEO Weekly’s Music and Summer Festival issue on May 23rd (weekly reader-ship 95,500).

OUTDOOR A five-week outdoor advertising campaign with 6 billboards throughout Southern Indiana...

... receiving a total of 1,708,255 impressions with a market rate value of $9,700.

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM #AROTR18

DESIGNS

Admission Ticket

T-Shirt Banner at the merch booth, now on sale at our website

NEW WEBSITE DESIGN still at www.AROTR.com

We moved our website platform to SquareSpace, allowing us to have: a more professional, modern design a better look at our analytics and our target audience for advertising on Facebook a more streamlined integration with our ticketing system & our newsletter platform and we even added an easy to use online store

ABBEY ROAD ON THE RIVER THROUGH THE YEARS Always Evolving with the Beatles

2014 2017

2018 2019

NEXT YEAR: MAY 23-27, 2019 Celebrating the 50th anniversary of 1969, Woodstock, Tommy

by The Who, and our signature album Abbey Road!

Featuring The Cowsills, Magic Bus and so much more!

Tickets now on sale at: www.AROTR.com

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS Thanks to our sponsors: