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25,000 turn out for battle
While the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Bull Run gave Civil War re-enactors and history buffs alike a chance to sweat out the life of troops in the 1860s, it also boosted the local economy and gave county officials an idea of how to better promote Manassas.The local tourism group Discover Prince William and Manassas reported this week that more than 25,000 people flocked to Manassas for the event, including some from as far away as Germany and the Netherlands.
That included more than 6,500 re-enactors and 18,500 spectators. Broken down, about 11,000 people watched the event Saturday with another 7,500 checking in on Sunday. That beat the 16,900 spectators initially expected to arrive based on early ticket sales.
Additionally, at least 300 volunteers helped out and 350 cavalry horses participated as well.
"We never did the event before so we didn't know where we were going to end the day," said Discover Prince William and Manassas executive director Ann Marie Maher.
The staging area of the battlefield had a capacity for 15,000 spectators and 10,000 re-enactors each day.
Prince William County spokesperson Desiree Wolfe reported that 248 people braving the triple-digit heat received on-site care at medical tents, 13 of whom ended up entering Prince William Hospital with non-critical health problems. All were later released, according to Maher.
She added in a statement that an on-site veterinarian also treated three horses for mild injuries.
More than 250 media outlets received credentials for the event, meaning that Manassas received a press boost on a level much greater than just the local area. Some national outlets filing stories included the Associated Press, National Public Radio and CNN.
"We had, you know, tremendous amount of coverage for the event," Maher said. "Beside the immediate economic impact, we know that our restaurants were full ... people couldn't even find places to eat."
Discover Prince William and Manassas did not have an official report about the economic impact of the event available as of press time this week. However, from July 21-24, Maher reported that "the community realized a $23.5 million economic boost from tourism."
The tourism group's email list for the Civil War reenactment grew from about 900 in September when the promotional website went live to around 4,000 this month.
The organization plans to survey re-enactors and spectators alike to ask about everything related to the anniversary, including how people were greeted, the level of hospitality they received and even where they ate and slept.
Give-aways from the tourism board are being arranged as an incentive for survey completions.
"We're really going to dig deep," said Maher, later adding, "We're going to really leverage the personal connection that we have with the participants of the re-enactors and the visitors."
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