Attendance structure and economic impact of the National Road Festival

The National Road Festival is a four-day event scheduled in mid-May along a 90-mile section of U.S. Route 40 within the southwestern Pennsylvania counties of Washington, Fayette, and Somerset. This 26-year tradition commemorates America's first federally funded highway and includes over 30 recreational sites and community attractions. The Festival provides a variety of music and dance events, reenactments, food and craft outlets, and two wagon trains that slowly, but surely, covered most of the Pike. In 1997, the National Road Heritage Park requested Penn State's assistance in establishing the size and distribution of the Festival's attendance, its economic impact, and recommendations on future operations. A series of three Festival studies (1997-99) has shown a fairly consistent attendance pattern, ranging from 50 to 52 thousand site days of usage each year. Non resident attendance was 36% of this total. The 90-mile system is divided into three sections, with the central component capturing over 60% of the total attendance. Annual regional expenditures from residents and non residents averaged $1.1 million, with nearly 50% originating from non residents. Regional impacts from the non resident trade averaged $1.2 million annual. The Festival is closely aligned to the region's heritage but could benefit from added planning and coordination.