Thousands expected at Jazz in the Gardens
MIAMI - With thousands of people are expected to attend the 16th annual Jazz in the Gardens Music Festival, there's a significant impact expected for the greater Miami-Dade County.
One of the businesses slated to benefit from the concert can be found off NW 7th Avenue in Miami.
It's called Cliff's Restaurant and Catering and you can't miss the building covered in green and yellow emulating the colors of the Jamaican flag.
The food being served inside the establishment is inspired by the Caribbean Island.
From jerk chicken to oxtails, and fish, owner Clifton Samuels has been serving Miami residents since the late 1980s.
Since its inception, Samuels has been catering his food at Jazz in The Gardens.
"It really helped my business, promote it. It's amazing what it does for me," he said.
Jody Hill, a performer himself, books the local talent. He said this year's lineup is different than anything they've ever had. He said they'll have more genres and more performers.
"It's amazing because now they get to display their talents among people who are coming in from out of town and in front of the community that they perform to throughout the year," he said.
In the past, the festival has drawn crowds of more than 70 thousand people.
Senior Vice President of Multicultural Tourism for the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, Connie Kinnard, told CBS4 that half of the attendees of the two-day festival are from the local area, but the other half are people from out of town.
With that, the revenue that is coming into Miami Dade County she reports is well over $12,000,000.
"7.3 million in direct expenditures which are things directly related to tourism but indirectly there's another 5.5 million spent," according to Kinnard these numbers are reflected in her Bureau's research.
She also explains over 4,000 jobs are created and those factors help to fuel local businesses beyond concert weekend.
