S4E10: YMI Talking to Kassie Hilgert from ArtsQuest

The full episode is here! 🎙️

This week on YMI Talking, we're joined by Kassie Hilgert to talk about ArtsQuest, its impact on the Lehigh Valley, and how it continues to bring people together through arts, music, education and community events all year long.

We also chat about Musikfest, what makes it such a special tradition, and what you can look forward to as this year's festival gets underway.

Thanks, Kassie, for joining us and giving us a behind the scenes look at ArtsQuest and one of the Lehigh Valley's biggest events. Watch the full episode now!

#YMITalking #ArtsQuest #Musikfest #LehighValley #BethlehemPA

For more info on YMI insurance visit our website at ymiagency.com

Or give us a call at 610-868-8762 to see how we can better protect your business and family.

Transcript

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is so different, and the growth now, I think is just making it better. So the Valley is a very, very special community. Welcome to YMI Talking! A podcast where the guests are so good you'll wonder why the host is even talking. In each episode, you will hear one of the leaders of the Lehigh Valley’s vibrant business hub. They will tell you the keys to their success, the mistakes they've made, and what they have in store for the future. Here is the host of YMI Talking, from YMI Insurance, Jimi Honochick. All right. That is me, Jimi Honochick, and I am joined by the wonderful, incredible, amazing Emily Ellis. Wow. Thank you. Hello. How are you today? I'm good. I'm really good. Because Music Fest is coming up. I'm so excited. You went last year? Yes. Last year was my first year. Lucky. What was your favorite part? Well, I didn't realize how big it was. So when I first got there, I thought it was only on the north side. And I didn't even get to the south side until my second day. And I just loved all the free stuff. Yeah. What are you doing this year? Are you going? Yes, I'm going to John Mulaney with some of my friends. Yeah, I'll be there. Yeah, I'm really excited about that. I've never seen him. And then just going to the the free times to. Yes. And we're going to have a tent. Yes. That's exciting. So there's going to be a why my tent if you're listening, go check it out. It's probably the coolest tent there. I would say it is. Were the first ones ever to have a photo booth. Oh, look at us, look at us. So that's going to be awesome. But yeah, I love oh, shucks, I love all of the food. The music I mentioned. Polka, like watching the kids get into polka is hilarious. It's just so the vibes are great. And the vibes for our guest today are great. Kassie Hilgert is the CEO at Arts Quest. She is the brains behind Music Fest and the one that keeps it going. And the interview was amazing. It was. She's very cool. You can understand why Music Fest is as cool as it is. Yes. So, Kassie, thank you for all that you do. And let's just dive into it. All right. Here we go. All right. This is. We're going to hang it up after this. This is the epitome of what this podcast is. And I am so excited to have Cassie Hilgert from Arts Quest. Here she is everywhere. Arts quest is the crown jewel of the Lehigh Valley is incredible. What you guys do, what you bring to the valley. So let me start off by just thanking you for everything you guys do. Well, that, you know, I like to thank everyone involved. It's 1200 volunteers. It's 80 staff. It's we have 80 board members. We have five boards. So we have an entire community that supports us. And I think that's why we are where we are today. Yeah. It takes a team and you've got one. Let's talk about your story and then we'll dive into Arts Quest and what I'm really excited about, Music Fest, because we are just around the corner. We are when this goes live. It will be next week that that Arts Quest or that music fest hits. So that's exciting. But talk to me about your start. You, you know, raised in the Lehigh Valley, not born but raised and spent most of your formative years here, I think. Correct. Actually. It was born in New York, raised in North Carolina, in Winston-Salem. So I was 11, came up here, and I always saw the story that Winston-Salem was the only other Moravian settlement that remains. So I literally thought every city had a moravian. So when we came up here, I'm like, oh, there is Moravian settlement. So like when I go to Atlanta, where is the Moravian settlement? So yes, I did spend my formative time here and then went to Penn State. Actually, first year I went to Ohio University. I thought I wanted to be a journalist, so I got into the script school of journalism out there. Wow. Learned quickly, I did not. I still loved writing and communicating, so I transferred over to Penn State and went there for communications and communications. Major. Yes. Yeah. What's up? Right. Yeah. The soft skill people, right. You'll rule the world I love it. Rule the world. Communicate. So from there, I had an internship between my junior and senior year with MedStar television. This is in 92. Okay. Job market was terrible for a little arts folks, and Metzler offered me a job at the end of the summer. And so I jumped at that and finished my degree part time, like online before you were ever doing remote and that kind of stuff. Yeah. And transferring degrees. So I did that for about five years and that was a great crash course, stayed with health care and went over to good Shepherd and ran their marketing and communications there during their capital campaign. And I think that's where I really fell in love with the nonprofit vibe. Yeah. And was recruited away from there to Air Products. Okay. Where I started in PR, did about half of the company's business lines, then moved over to Crisis Communications and then eventually government relations and philanthropy. And that's when I really got to know the Valley nonprofits, because those previous jobs had me doing very different things, either traveling a lot or just not focused on the Valley. But I learned a lot about them. That's when I met a guy by the name of Jeff Parks, who brought me out because he was looking for some seed funding for this ridiculous idea he had for an 1800 acre brownfield, the largest under redevelopment in the country. And he's flailing his arms around saying, there's going to be a venue here or something outside. There's cinemas, and I'm looking at them like you're a little off your. But over time, I really fell in love with the project, and thinking that I could maybe have a chance to have a hand in shaping that ultimately led me from Air Products Arts Quest. It's incredible to think about just that transformation because, you know, I came of age, let's say 2007, 2008. So I've really only known what we have now, which is such an incredible space. But it wasn't that and it took a guy with a vision talk to me, I guess kind of about that transformation and how you saw it happen. Yeah. I mean, I wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. When I was in high school, I wanted to put the valley in my rear view mirror. Yeah, I was I was a hostess at Perkins down the street on Hamilton Boulevard. Yeah, it was Bill Daniels Music Factory next to it, but there was nothing going on here, so I wanted out. But the more I spent time traveling, funny enough, I realized every town was a town someone was trying to get out of someone's town is boring to them. If you start to look at things in a different light and realize as you get to a certain age, either you're going to change it or it's going to always stay this way. And that's what I saw in Jeff, who was a tax attorney of all things. No way. His parents had a stationary store on the south side of Bethlehem, and he was in Philadelphia after graduating law school and eventually got back here and started a music festival. So that that gave me some kind of confidence that we all just need to roll up our sleeves and step in. There's no special skill here. Yeah, you just need the passion and the commitment to say, I'm going to stay committed and do this, whatever it takes. And do you think the Lehigh Valley is unique in their ability to do that? Because it feels like this is a community, like a true community? It is. I think the valley is very different a number of ways. Many years ago and first in my career, I was on the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation board that was started by Elmer Gates and Bert Day and others. Lenny Fowler was heavily involved. Lead boats was heavily involved. At the time. The valley was much smaller, so 4 or 5 people could come together and say, we're changing all this. They started that fall. I really feel like having watched them and what they did and what they changed now what I love is the Valley is so different. Yeah, it's so much bigger. We have people coming from everywhere. I want to feel those influences. I want to taste that culture. I want to do all of that because we're always going to keep that thread of authenticity, whether it's the Moravians in Bethlehem, having grown up in downtown Allentown, my dad worked at People or Easton and all of its restaurateurs and its merchants. The valley is so different, and the growth now, I think is just making it better. So the Valley is a very, very special community. Yeah. I'm going to do a quick story. When I was moving back to the area, I met a guy who had just moved back, and he was from Chicago and I was from Wilmington, and we were just talking about, you know, we all moved away, but now we're bringing these influences here, and it just makes the community better. And it's and it's so good at attracting people because it has so much. It's funny you say Chicago because I often liken Lehigh Valley to Chicago because it has these neighborhoods, right? The Moors, Cooper's Burg, Easton. You've got the cities, you've got the suburbs. And I think each one of them has their own personality, and they're resistant to that, which can be a good thing. Right? Like this is this is what a maze is, which is different than this is what Bethlehem is. But I think that just is. More ingredients in the soup makes it tastes so good. So let's talk about Arts Quest. So you're there in 2008 and then in 2014 you become CEO. What was that transition like for you? Terrifying. You know, when you follow a founder, that's a really difficult thing to do. Even when I told my dad I was going to apply for this, my dad was very conservative guy. He managed the pension fund investment at people. I had a theater scholarship to college and he's like, yeah, no, you're going to go get a degree, get a job. If you want to do that in your spare time, great. And when I told him I was going to go do this, he's like, okay, two things. One, you don't want to be the guy that replaces the guy. You want to be the guy that replaces the guy who replaced the guy. Right? That's an easier gig. That guy is going to get fired, right? Yeah. He's coming. Yeah. It's not going to be here for a while. But, you know, in talking with him, I think he saw my drive in my passion. And I almost needed his blessing to feel confidence because I'd never done this job before. I'd never raised a dollar, even when I started there in 2008. So I had not been certainly in a CEO role. So it was terrifying. But the boards there, the volunteers, my goodness. I still talk to volunteers at Music Fest and ask them questions. I know more than I do. Yeah, the level of confidence I was given by everybody around me made me feel that I could do this. I was completely elated. I was so excited. But I still pinch myself to this day. Yeah, yeah I do. What is it about your personality that you think made you the right fit for the role? I hope it's my authenticity. So I sit in the room a lot, and I am the least knowledgeable person in the room, and I'm pretty comfortable with that. Welcome to the club. Right? Right. So I've kind of lived my life that way. I've been a bit of the underdog always, so that that is not a position that concerns me. I like when there are smarter people in the room. I like to learn things. I'm very curious. I want to know how things work. I may not spend a lot of time with it. Once I know I want to move on to the next thing. And this job is great for that because you don't do anything for any amount of time, you're always moving on to the next issue. Yeah. What is under the arts question? Because, you know, we all think Music Fest obviously still stacks, but it's broader than that. Give us give us the picture. Yeah. Arts Quest owns and operates Steel Stacks which is the arts center, the products town square. Then we lease the Levitt Pavilion Steel Stacks and the visitors center from the city on a long term lease. We are now currently building a new creative factory powered by people that replaces the old banana factory. That's visual arts. So we're going to have 20% more artist studios. We're going to have a hot glassblowing studio. We're going to have a makerspace, a Martin guitar recording studio. It's going to be a lot lot in there. And then we're also rehabbing 155 year old Bethlehem Steel building called the Turn and Grind Shop, presented by elven, part of Jefferson. So that's going to come online in June of 27, and the Creative Factory opens this November for the grand opening in January 27th. How do you do all of that? I mean, that's that's so much. And you're kind of there at the top of it. How are you able to make that happen? So, you know, every January 1st, that's our fiscal year. We started zero. Our budget is about $32 million. And if we meet all of our budget goals this year, our net will be $130,000. Wow. So the way we do that, I believe, and what attracted me a lot to Arts Quest was we're very entrepreneurial. So we are always scraping. We never act like we are a 43 year old music fest brand. We are still a startup and in so many ways we are. If we roll out a new festival, it is, and then we bounce over to Chris. That's been around since 1993. So you're a little schizophrenic in that standpoint, but I think it works because we diversify our funding sources. So it's ticket sales, but not to a lot of stages. That's only ten nights at Music Fest or 11. You've got the cafe, which is about 100, 110 shows a year, and we've got two cinemas. Yeah. Then we'll do cultural events like Taco Fest and Saint Fest and all of those which have a gate. But, you know, the 4000 camps, classes and concerts we do a year, almost 40% of that is free. So the food and beverage is critical for us. That's huge. Ticket sales. Sponsorships are enormous, both cash and kind. We're very fortunate to have about 300 partners. Wow. And then finally we have memberships and donations. We have about 3000 members starting at around $125, going all the way up to $25,000. Yeah. Wow. Something that you said, they're kind of stuck out to me, which is how it feels like a startup, but you're able to manage the historical aspects of it because that's a big part. There's a legacy. I mean, like you said, you've got the Moravian settlements there. How do you balance the history and preserving that with the newness and the freshness? Well, I think we're fortunate that we get to spend all our time in the newness and the freshness, because the backdrop is the history. Yeah, right. Bethlehem, now newly minted Unesco World Heritage Site. That's why Music Fest was started in the historic Moravian District, was to get people walking around the colonial Industrial Quarter and Main Street. because back in 84, as Jeff would tell you, you could roll a bowling ball down the sidewalk on Main Street on Saturday and not hit anybody. So how do you get people to walk around? And so the idea was, let's use something very contemporary. And that is a freedom we still have this day. The Valley is so lucky to have even a region of this size. Is lucky to have a museum of the quality. We do a symphony so we did not have to deal with art from famous past artists. We could spend all our time on pop culture and so we jump in with both feet with that. And I think the contrast is what people love when they're sitting at a Levitt show and they're looking up at the blast furnaces and you're seeing a contemporary artist that's just wild and cool. It is like being in the heart of the Lehigh Valley, like you feel all of that. It's it's magical. It's hard to describe. Yeah. And you do feel the weight of it. You know, historically, where I feel it a lot is I think the Moravian culture period was one of innovation. I mean, they had the first waterworks in the country. They were educating women when nobody was educating women. They were burying African-Americans and Native Americans next to white people. Like that didn't happen in this country. Yeah. And they constantly had to create their entire community. And so they just reinvented things every single day. And I think we've had that spirit since our founding on Christmas Eve back in 1741. Yeah. It's interesting. Anyone who hasn't done a moravian tour, I highly encourage it because you hear how progressive they were and how we owe so much to them here. Yeah. And I think, you know, Jeff's idea was a brilliant one because German was like the official language of this country for almost 100 years. We have the largest collection of 18th century Germanic architecture in the United States in Bethlehem, like we had in central to the Moravian religion is music. So what an idea to wrap all that up into a music festival that's free and offers all kinds of. So you're immediately telling everyone everyone's welcome. There is no barrier to coming down here. And you're right, it is so inclusive of musical tastes. I was looking at the lineup and I've got tickets to some, but you've got comedy, so you've got John Lennon, which is going to that. I'm very excited. Oh, are you really? Oh that's good. Taking my head off for that one too. I got the family flying out for that. Yeah. So you've got that. But then you've got country, you've got Weird Al, you've got Third Eye Blind, you've got T who I'm excited about. You've got train like the diversity. I guess that's intentional. It's not just finding what you can. It's trying to send a signal for sure. It is both because you have to be able to, you know, the band's first have to be on tour, then they have to be on this coast within that time period. They cannot be playing a competing venue for 30 days before or 30 days after their set here. So a lot goes into getting that lineup locked down and it shouldn't happen. I can tell you there is no good reason on this earth why anybody should try to book headliners 11 nights in a row. It is ridiculous. But our team, led by Patrick Brogan, does it every year and they take it with the most seriousness and they're phenomenal at it. And what is it that is the sell to them. Because, you know, I think of some of these are huge megastars and you're saying, hey, come to our little free festival in Bethlehem, which we know is much bigger than that, but how do you sell it to them? First of all, festivals are attractive to artists, so they like to know that they're headlining a festival. That's a big deal. Yeah. Secondly, honestly, it's money. So if if they're here, if they're available, if the fee is right, they do love to headline of festival. when they get here. It is a very different story because they will step off that tour bus in the backstage of the Wind Creek steel stage, and they look out and their first thought is, what is, what are those? Yeah, where am I? And what do you mean? This goes on the other side of the river and I've never heard of. This is crazy. And then when they were nonprofit, that I think is a real surprise for them because they're used to, you know, every stop is a for profit. If it's Coachella, if it's whatever, if you're playing a huge venue or a stadium, that's not a little community arts organization trying to bring people together, it's a very different feel. Yeah. How cool is it? When Sabrina Carpenter gave it a shout out, was that last year, two years ago on Hot Wings? That was great. Yeah, she was here a couple of years ago, and I got a great picture with her on stage, and she did an interview with a local media. She is sort of that pinnacle of what our mission is for artists. And that is you can start out here and we have a stage for you if you have five followers. Yeah. And we've got a rum on that ladder all throughout your career until you can headline the Wind Creek steel stage. And she did. Yeah. So, you know, that is to me the greatest story. And the next one we certainly have to see on there. And you know, shout out Taylor Swift could be great. You know, we'd love to give her a shot at the main stage. If she's available I'll shoot her for this. Maybe on 101. Yes. What is the mission of Arts Quest? You know, we do all these wonderful things. What is the unifying goal for Arts Quest? Yeah, the goal of Arts Quest is to increase access to the arts for all and to use arts for urban revitalization. So in addition to giving artists opportunities, it's helping small businesses, whether it's the hotel occupancy, the restaurant during music festival or the 40 food vendors that are at Music Fest, or the 150 crafters that are at Chris Kilmore, this is part of their livlihood. livelihood. Every artist, you see it and Music Fest gets paid. We can't be an arts organization who says you can build a community through the arts and ask for everything for free from artists. We have to show them that there is a career pathway here and beyond them, in lighting technicians and audio engineers, in all the industries that surround the arts. That is very important for us to keep an eye on. And that's incredible. You know, I told you briefly, I went to TV and I did TV for a while, and so much of that is, hey, just do this for free and then you'll get something out of it someday. Someday. Exactly. And for most people, that someday never comes. But you are saying from day one, we're going to be here and supporting the arts. That's incredible. Yes. So then let's talk a little bit more about Music Fest. What are you excited about this year for Music Fest? Music Fest this year I'm excited. You know, last year was pretty magical. We had 11 days of no rain. And, you know, even Jeff called me up and said, that'll never happen again. And I said, you're not kidding. But You know what I'm most excited about this year's festival is it sounds really boring, but it is the tradition. So we've got volunteers, some of whom, ten of whom have been with us all 43 years. We've got people who families who come in from out of town because our family members live here. And this is the thing they do each year. They volunteer together. You know, I've got teenagers. We've got companies seeing them come back together. It's almost like a family reunion. Yeah. And then they're helping to build the festival. So to me, the build up is almost my favorite part because it's 5000 people have to help build the festival. Wow. It's building a city within a city. Yeah. And so seeing them all come together, something that that that always excites me. And this never gets old. It's the it's every main stage show. The minute the lights go down before the artist comes out and there's that explosion, there's like a silence. And then someone sees the shadow of the artist walk on stage and everyone starts screaming. That to me, gives me absolute goosebumps. I was literally about to say, I have goosebumps hearing you describe it. Yes, I'm a back a house watch person. I don't even care who's on on the main stage. Yeah, I like to watch the audience taking that, and that is where I get all the magic from and all the Jews to keep going. Yeah. Almost makes you want to be a musician. If almost. If only I had a. Yeah, we could start a bad band together. There's got to be a space for that. Yes. Get us on a fest. So I'm trying to think of all of the things that I love about Music Fest. Like the mugs. How cool is that? I mean, did that start from day one? Just creating a new one each year? Well, boy, back in the day we did pictures, okay? Learned that was a bad idea. Don't give people 48oz all at one time. It didn't start day one, but it started really early. And what is great about the mug is we pick an artist every year to design the poster, and there's one requirement of the artist and one guideline that we give them. Have you been? The answer is yes. Then you must interpret the festival the way you saw it. Wow. So that's what you see in the poster every year is the interpretation of the event through their eyes. So I love to see that that's a brand new spectacle every year. And then you know that that mug sells about 30,000 units a year. Yeah. Even though you can bring a mug from any year and get it filled up, you can bring it year round and we'll fill it up. But that people are collecting them is really something. Yeah. We went when we moved back to the area, we went to our first music fest and I bought the whole family mugs, light up mugs, and then the next year we went and I was like, I'm going to buy another mug. Absolutely. I'm like, we already have mugs. And I was like, I want a new one. Each year. Exactly. Although people do take pride in, like, their older ones. Yeah, I've got the 2007 mug and yeah, you're walking around the new one. Yeah, there's a little bit of that competition. It's fun for sure. And the memories like you were talking about, like it's a family reunion. It's memories for people. Just me personally. Like, I can think of so many memories from there. My first music fest ever, Alice Cooper, was one of the headliners, and me and my buddies were racing down because we were late coming from school or whatever. And sure enough, on 33 there's the police officer and I got my first ever speeding ticket on the way to announce Cooper's show at Music Fest. But it's often the blow a little bit. Absolutely. Yeah. And you tell a police officer that you're going to an Alice Cooper concert and see how that goes over. Pretty sure you got that ticket. Yeah. So yeah. So let me ask, are you going to we're coming from. Right. And then two years ago my son lost his first tooth at Music Fest at all. Shucks. Of all places. Well, I'm going to lose it. Oh, yeah. For some shucks. Absolutely. Yeah. The vendors there are incredible. The food. We just had our Music Fest golf tournament. We've got a couple of food vendors. We're talking about not having artists do performances for free. Several of them come out and do donate their time for that being one of them. Heaven on a bun is another. Okay, and what is fun to watch among those food vendors is the community that builds there. So first time food vendors, we try to get first time food vendors in every year just to spice it up a bit. But it's daunting to serve that audience for 11 days in a row, and not many festivals are that long. So there's this community that starts in horseshoes and Island. Noodles and Heaven on a bun are at the center of that. They will take them under their wing. Wow. And explain, this is how you do this and get ready for this. And here's the peak times. They're not competing, right. They're working with each other. And I think it helps because our food committee also made up of volunteers and staff, not just us, want to have a mix, right? You don't want to have the same thing. You also don't want competing things. So we try not to put competing flavors next to each other for that very reason. Yeah. It's incredible. Just the level of effort that goes into this from the volunteers. Like, what is it that brings the volunteers back over and over again? What I hope it is, is that they truly run the festival. If you see, they will have a different t shirt than the staff does color wise. That's a big meeting. Every year is the color of the volunteer t shirt. Oh, it's a big deal. But they run things. This is not picking up garbage or saying hello and goodbye and getting directions. There are site supervisors. They run the plots. It's their job and staff reports to them. Yeah, they run sound. They are helping artists get from one stage to the next. They are letting us know of issues with weather and so we could not run the festival a without volunteers, but two, I hope it's because they truly run it. And we have a list. Running a list each year that the public can, can, can submit to two. But volunteers and staff submit ideas for the next festival. During the festival, we tell them, if you see something right there, send it in right now. And we go through that list every year after Music Fest, line by line. And I think when the volunteers see that that idea got put in place next year, they know we're serious and they have real impact and lasting impact on the festival and how it's run. Yeah. Whether it is the volunteers that you're able to muster, the staff that you have that's dedicated, you know, it comes from the head and you've got the Priscilla Payne Award, you have the Athena Award. You don't strike me as the person who loves to talk about these things, but there's something about you that makes it all tick. Do you ever stop to just kind of reflect on what you've built here and the way you've impacted the community? I have not. Well, you should, because truthfully, like, this community is so much better because of what you and Arts Quest have put together. Well, you said the important Fraser Quest, so I felt that proud when I was in president and CEO. I was that invested and hasn't changed an ounce. Being in this role, I think I tell my staff this a lot. Our society needs titles, we just need structure. And by fate and blessings I have this title, but it means nothing when it comes to running things. Because when I listen to my box office talk to an angry customer. Yeah, when I see maintenance fixing sewer pipes before sacrificed so we can get it open, I can't do that. I'm really bad at that. So I can be the greatest person in the world. And it will mean literally nothing without the rest of them. Yeah, I love that. That's that's a true leader. That really is one final question before we kind of wrap this up, which I don't want to do, is I'm blanking on the question. It has escaped me. We can wait. No, let's go into then. So we are sponsored this season by Swiftwater. They are hotel in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania, up in the Poconos. It's beautiful. It's wonderful. It's the best vacation you can take in the Poconos. So we like to ask all of our guests, what's the best vacation you've ever taken? My best vacation actually happened last year. My niece turned 21, and when she was young, I told her when she turned 21, she can go anywhere in the world that she wants. And so she picked Florence and I told her she had a boyfriend at the time. Now her fiance said, you can bring someone, who would you like to bring? And I was so touched that she said, I want to bring my parents, which is my brother and sister in law. So we spent a week in Florence together. We rented a villa. I used every excuse to spend way too much money and go over the top for my niece. And that was the the location was as memorable as the people I spent with. That's incredible. And thank you for triggering my memory. Your family? Yes. How does your family? Do you have time for them? Like, I can only imagine the amount of work that you have running Arts Quest. How do you balance it? Are they okay lending you away for 11 days at least out of the year? Yeah, I'd like to say I'm better at that. I'm not. I'm doing something I'm really passionate about. Fortunately, my spouse, Susan, is very passionate about her job. So. And she's also, along with being a trial attorney, she's also an elected official, also assistant district attorney for the county. So she has three jobs. So it makes mine look like I don't do that much. But my brother and sister in law are between Colorado and California. I do want to make a commitment to to see them more. But my niece, now starting her PhD journey at Stanford, also has that drive. So yeah, do I wish we spent more time together? We did. But I think that's a bit of our genetic makeup. Yeah, and it sounds like you and your wife are a real power couple. I think that's pretty funny how we look on the weekends. I wouldn't describe this as that. I think we kind of fall over the finish line every Friday night, but sure, let's, let's let's go with that. Is there anything about Arts Quest Music Fest that we didn't hit that you want to hit anything that we should talk about going into it, I'd like to emphasize that it is a free festival. It has not changed its admission for 43 years. Why is that important? Because it is important to support the food vendors there, the restaurants on Main Street. That revenue pays for it. In aggregate, the festival cost a million days, $1 million a day to run. Wow. We've got to make that up every day. Yeah, so if there's bad weather, it'll be a tough day. So that support helps us to put on that free programing. I think a lot of people think Music Fest generates a ton of net revenue for us. No way it shape or form does it. You just told me the profit margin and that's not huge. Yeah. No, no it is not. So we say Music Fest built everything else. The brand, the reputation, built steel stacks built, the banana factory, built Chris Kindle. Now everything else we do literally supports Music Fest and its ongoing operations. So come out, support those artists and get to a free stage. You may see a mainstage performer in ten years. You're going to see them for free this year. So dig into that app and that program book and go to the free stages. You're going to see some magic there and hit the polka stage because that's how much fun. Oh yes, it's the original. Oh, one final thing before we wrap it up, I've heard you mention multiple partners, whether it is, you know, the town center, which was Air Products, whether it was Pal powered by Pal, just it feels like you guys are almost the epicenter of the community. Do you feel that way and how do you bring everyone together like that? We bring everyone together because we have to have a seat at the table for everyone. So when I talked about the 80 board members that we have, we also have 300 committee members. We have a music arts committee that picks all of the free stage performers. That's not just us. You know, we get submissions. We can't listen to that all ourselves. We also shouldn't be, as a staff of full time of 80, shouldn't be the only ones making the decision of what the Valley sees. So we need the entire community involved with what do you want to see presented? If we are anything, I hope we are a mirror to the community and that we reflect who we are today, but more importantly, who we're going to be tomorrow. I'm writing three things down community, artists, and just love. I think those are the three things that kind of define Arts Quest, and we are so fortunate to have you guys here. Well, we're fortunate to have you and spread the word like this and getting involved and changing this community to now you're one of the leaders and you're making the change. Well, I don't also take praise, so thank you for that. Thank you so much for coming on. And here's to an incredible fest. Thank you so much for having me on. Appreciate it. And we'll see you at the fest. for listening to another episode of the Why Am I talking podcast. If you enjoyed this and want to hear more content from amazing personalities in the Valley, please subscribe. Leave a rating and drop us a quick review.