Idaho man throws epic eclipse festival, but few show up

CASCADE, Idaho – An Idaho man is out more than $20,000 after organizing a solar eclipse festival that an underwhelming amount of people showed up for.

Jeff Webb’s eclipse festival in Cascade was complete with campsites, shuttles for parking, eight live bands, portable toilets and food for thousands of people, KIVI-TV reported Tuesday. Webb spent nearly $7,000 on portable toilets alone.

But to his surprise, only a few dozen eclipse enthusiasts showed up.

“It got hyped up and it hurt, so I lost over 20,000 dollars this weekend,” Webb said, adding that he was hoping to renovate his current business venture in Nampa with festival profits.

Webb noticed the roads were much emptier than he expected – as the drivers he did see passed his festival and found somewhere else to watch. The expected influx of tens of thousands of visitors just never arrived, he said.

Business owners in town told Webb that they were actually seeing fewer people than on an average weekend.

“One even said 50 percent less business than a regular weekend,” said Webb.

He said although the festival was a dud, he would do it again.