An effort to open up the Manassas City Parking Garage for the first time on July 4 fell flat this year.
Historic Manassas Inc., the city’s downtown promotional arm, was selling tickets for a rooftop party to take place on Independence Day. The event would coincide with the city’s annual fireworks show — the largest in the region.
However, low ticket sales forced the cancellation of the planned party.
Looking for more information on the new Celebrate America Rooftop Party? Check it out! https://t.co/owZRZZaURo
— Historic Manassas (@visitmanassas) June 8, 2016
We asked Historic Manassas Inc. Director Debbie Haight about the party’s cancellation:
PL: What was the thought process behind doing a rooftop party? The parking garage is usually closed on July 4.
Haight: This experience was to include front row viewing of the Celebrate America fireworks display, a catered dinner, drinks, a photo both, games and much more from 5 to 10 p.m.
PL: Was this the first time for this event? Was it going to be an annual thing?
Haight: It was the first time any thing of this kind has been done on roof top. It is our hope that with a full year to plan we can pull the party off in 2017.
PL: How many tickets needed to be sold to make the event successful?
Haight: We had a cap on the number that would be manageable for this event and it was 250 at the time of cancellation we had sold 16. tickets.
Tickets for the event sold for $99 each or $250 for a couple which included VIP parking, full catered dinner and drinks, games and a birds eye view to the fireworks.
The parking garage will remain closed this year. This is from a statement from City Manager Patrick Pate:
“Many have asked why the parking garage is closed to vehicle traffic during Celebrate America. It is to ensure pedestrian safety as the streets in that area are filled with families watching the fireworks.”
