Cedar Rapids businesses could see big boost over busy summer

CEDAR RAPIDS  -- This summer, Cedar Rapids businesses are hoping -- maybe counting on -- a financial boost of their own.

Several major events are expected to bring in thousands of people to the city. From early June until late July, expect downtown Cedar Rapids to be full of music, events, and food vendors, which mean lots of visitors to the city.

Whether it's country music legend Alan Jackson, or the Grammy-nominated group Counting Crows, both are expected to pack downtown Cedar Rapids.

"People in Cedar Rapids are hungry for a concert where they don't have to drive somewhere," said Bob James, program director for KHAK.

KHAK celebrates its 50th birthday this year. The station invited Alan Jackson and five other national acts to preform downtown.

"When we came out of the gate, we sold 1,000 tickets in the first 10 minutes. Obviously we knew the demand would be huge," James said.

Here are just a few things going on:

--Alan Jackson concert is June 9.

--Cedar Rapids will then host the 2012 National Railway Historical Society Convention June 18- 24.

--Barbeque Roundup will be somewhere in the mix, but dates have not been released.

--Freedom Festival is June 21 - July 4.

--RAGBRAI will be July 26-27.

"They book hotels, they eat at the local restaurants and they see the things that we get to live with everyday which is unique about Cedar Rapids,' said Brandon Busbee, marketing operations director for Freedom Festival.

Despite the U.S. Cellular Center being under construction, there seems to be no shortage of events in upcoming months.

"Dock dogs is a competitive dog jumping contest, you have seen it on ESPN, outdoor games maybe. We are going to bring that in," Busbee said. He expects that event and a few others will bring in people from all over the country.

"This year we expanded our firefighter combat challenge to two days instead of one, so now it's on the national circuit," Busbee said.

While there may be some rerouting, busy restaurants and big crowds, this summer in Cedar Rapids could bring a big boost to local businesses while giving Eastern Iowans dozens of fun things to do.

For more information about these upcoming events and ticket information you can visit the following links:

cedarrapidsragbrai.com

khak.com

freedomfestival.com

crbbqroundup.com

cedar-rapids.com

nrhs.com