The Dillon Amphitheater had a blockbuster summer season, hosting more live music events than ever before while also drawing larger crowds and generating a net profit, according to a staff review of the town-owned venue.

Dillon events and recreation director Jessie Klehfoth discussed the amphitheater’s financials, a recent survey of amphitheater guests and goals for the venue’s next summer season with the Dillon Town Council at its meeting Tuesday, Nov. 12.

“We did quite a bit more this year than we’ve done in past years,” Klehfoth said.

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This summer the Dillon Amphitheater hosted 44 live music events, up from 36 last year, Klehfoth said. Of those 44 shows, 28 were paid shows, an increase from 21 paid shows in 2023 and 17 in 2022, she said. This year, the venue also hosted the Lake Dillon Beer Festival, two free movie nights, 11 country dancing classes, 10 yoga evenings and a Teton Gravity Research movie night.

Klehfoth said the amphitheater offered a wide variety of genres this past summer — from pop to country, rock, soul, jam bands, classical, bluegrass and more — and drew guests from all over the U.S. and the world to Dillon.

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The amphitheater aimed to average about two paid shows and one free show per week, Klehfoth said. She recommended maintaining a similar pacing for next year, noting that in survey results, Dillon residents indicated that they wanted an average of 2.8 shows per week in the summer.

But some council members suggested increasing the number of shows to average closer to three paid shows and one free show a week, in an effort to generate more revenue through the amphitheater.

Dillon Amphitheater ticket sales and attendance up significantly

The Dillon Amphitheater sold more than 88,000 live music tickets this year, generating about $6.4 million in gross revenues, up from the 69,000 tickets that it sold last year, generating about $4.5 million, according to the presentation.

Including free shows, the venue hosted over 115,000 concert attendees, an increase from the about 95,000 attendees that visited in 2023 and the about 76,000 people that attended shows in 2022, Klehfoth said. That is a 22% increase in live music attendance from 2023 to 2024 and a 51% increase over two years.

“That’s huge growth we’re seeing at the amphitheater as far as attendance and ticket sales go,” Klehfoth said.

The events and recreation department worked to maximize revenues at the amphitheater this year by having more ticketed shows and charging bands a higher fee to play ticketed shows, increasing the quality of free shows and streamlining the bar lines, Klehfoth said. She said the amphitheater also saved money by reducing overtime, training staff, promoting from within and hiring positions that were previously outsourced through temp agencies.

As recently as 2021, the Dillon Amphitheater was operating at a net deficit of close to $250,000 a year, according to the presentation. But this year, the amphitheater generated a net profit of more than $400,000 – more than it has in the five years since its construction.

The average paid performance in Dillon this year netted $58,555 in income after accounting for expenses, or about $1.6 million throughout the year, Klehfoth said. Last year, the average paid performance generated about $55,000 in income after expenses or about $1.2 million, while in 2022 the average paid performance generated about $44,000 in income with a yearly total of about $750,000, she said.

The free Mountain Music Monday series continued to prove a success in its second year, Klehfoth said. This year, almost 2,300 people attended the free shows on average, up from the about 2,000 people that attended the free shows on average last year. Average free concert attendance doubled this year compared to 2022, before the Mountain Music Monday series launched and about 1,100 people on average attended free performances, she said.

“We kept seeing this declining attendance at our free shows we were having on Fridays and Saturdays,” Klehfoth said. “We moved to Mondays and it has been phenomenal (with) double the attendance from two years ago, averaging at those free shows. By doing this we have a consistent day of the week. Everyone knows Dillon is the place to be on a Monday night.”

Using what she described as a very conservative estimate, Klehfoth calculated that out-of-town guests visiting the amphitheater generated approximately $416,000 in sales and lodging tax revenues for the town of Dillon. 

While Klehfoth said that the net revenues generated by the amphitheater do not include the about $350,000 the town pays toward the debt service on the venue each year, they also do not include sales tax revenues, which would cancel out the debt service payment. Therefore, she said it is fair to say the amphitheater generated at least $400,000 in profit for the town this year.

“At a certain point, we are reaching an opportunity plateau, though, with the revenue that we’re able to make,” Klehfoth said, “because the more shows we start to put on, the more labor we have to bring in.”

Survey shows Dillon Amphitheater guests love the venue

When the amphitheater season ended this fall, Klehfoth said that the town’s events and recreation department worked with a contractor to circulate a survey to amphitheater customers to gauge who was visiting the venue and their satisfaction levels.

The survey asked respondents where they lived and gave different sets of questions to tourists than locals, Klehfoth said. The survey received more than 5,000 responses, “which is just unheard of in the survey industry,” she said. About 575 of the respondents stated in the survey that they were Dillon residents.

The Dillon Amphitheater received a net promoter score of 72, a metric used in customer survey experiences to measure loyalty, Klehfoth said. The score is calculated by asking survey respondents to rate on a scale of zero to 10 how likely they are to recommend the Dillon Amphitheater to friends and family. Any score above 20 is considered favorable, while a score above 50 is considered excellent and a score over 80 is “world class,” she said.

“We got a 72. That is incredible,” Klehfoth said. “It’s almost unheard of in a lot of hospitality industries. It’s considered to be a great score.”

When asked how they felt about the current mix of paid to free shows, 64% of respondents said that the current mix is good, while 11% wanted more free shows and fewer ticketed shows and 19% wanted more of both free and ticketed shows, according to the survey results.

Overall, respondents said that an average of about 3.2 shows per week was a good number, while Dillon residents who responded to the survey said that they would like to see 2.8 shows per week, Klehfoth said.

The vast majority of locals, almost 85%, agreed in the survey that the town should subsidize the cost of free concerts, according to the survey results. The results also showed that most Dillon residents, about 70%, are in favor of the town opening the amphitheater to private rentals, though Klehfoth noted that the question did not include what it would cost to rent, which may have impacted the results.

Overall, the survey had 18,000 individual comments from respondents, Klehfoth said. 

“A lot of people said ‘keep doing what you’re doing,'” Klehfoth said. “‘That was actually a lot of what they said is, ‘You guys are doing great. Don’t ruin it.’ So, I also wanted to pass that along.”

Dillon Town Council suggests doing more paid shows

Looking ahead to the summer of 2025, Klehfoth recommended that the events and recreation department work to create a Dillon Amphitheater season with a similar pacing of free and paid shows.

She suggested that the amphitheater continue the Mountain Music Monday series and aim for one free show and two paid shows per week.

“We want to continue to bring in nationally-touring artists that attract the right guests at the right time,” Klehfoth said. “What that means is we want to look at driving tourism but doing it in a sustainable way. We don’t want to overwhelm the town. We don’t want to overwhelm the neighborhoods and residents. We want to do this in a sustainable way.”

Council member John Woods noted that he used to work for Live Nation Entertainment, and suggested that the town look at VIP experiences that could be sold to generate more revenue at the amphitheater. He said that although survey results didn’t show much interest in VIP upgrades, the respondents were not the right audience for that product.

“I appreciate what you guys are doing but I think that the ideas that I put forward have been good ideas,” Woods told the events department. “I just hope you guys will listen to them.”

Council member Renee Imamura said that she has heard “really positive” feedback from residents about the Mountain Music Monday series. Imamura suggested a child-focused event to the amphitheater, like PBS programming. She also noted the revenues generated by the venue this year and suggested bumping up to three paid shows per week next season.

Council members Oliver Luck, Rachel Tuyn and Dana Christiansen agreed that the amphitheater could look at averaging closer to three paid shows and one free show per week next summer.

Mayor Carolyn Skowyra said that next summer could be a good year to try out doing three paid shows and one free show a week, but suggested that maybe that doesn’t have to be the case every week. Skowyra said in particular she finds it “bizarre” when there is not a show on either a Friday or a Saturday night, and suggested the amphitheater look at trying to book Fridays and Saturdays more often.

Klehfoth noted that what nights artists play at the venue is often dictated by their touring schedule. She also said that increasing the number of shows could result in expenses like overtime for town staff, including law enforcement who provide security at the events.

Council member Kyle Hendricks noted that the survey results showed that Dillon residents wanted only about 2.8 shows per week. He said, “pushing it up to four doesn’t seem to be what our local folks want.”