Vincennes looking to capitalize on eclipse visitation
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe eclipse director for the city of Vincennes says preparations that were made for last week’s total solar eclipse showed what the city is capable of in terms of hosting big events and dealing with big crowds.
People flocked to Indiana in droves to catch a glimpse of the eclipse, as a large swath of the state was in the direct path of totality.
“The crowd, you could you could just watch it grow. From the morning on, you could tell who was there to see the eclipse,” Sarah Wolfe said. “The vibe was cheery, happy, excited, full of anticipation for something so exciting. And that’s what we got.”
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Wolfe said the weather was perfect on the day of the eclipse, which ended up drawing more visitors.
“We talked to people literally from all over the country and all over the world who either had planned on coming here from the get go or who had to make a pivot because of the weather in the southern and northern parts of the path,” she said. “I don’t know if anybody had better weather on the entire path than we had in southern Indiana. It was it was stunning. The crowds were great. People were busy, it was bustling.”
Wolfe said the city saw some people from Los Angeles who had originally traveled to Texas but changed their plans at the last minute due to weather and came to Vincennes.
“We had folks that were like…’Had I paid more attention I would have came in three days earlier, because this is such a great town and you guys put on such a great event,'” she said.
From the outset, Vincennes looked to use the eclipse as a platform to attract more people to live, work and play in the city. Wolfe said she believes the city will be able to accomplish just that.
Officials noticed two demographics of visitors, Wolfe said. The first was more older visitors with more disposable income who are willing to travel, and the other was a younger crowd that came out of curiosity and excitement.
“We heard a lot of folks who said, “I want to come back from Memorial Day. I want to come back for the rendezvous weekend. I want to see what else this town has to offer. You guys put on a great show, perfectly planned, extremely well executed,'” she said. “And that was because of the partnerships and the community that we had built throughout this event.”
Wolfe said the entire process showed the city how it could leverage its storytelling for other big events in the future.