Friends of Lakeshore State Park

Urban Island Beach Party

Insights

Through a series of experience design meetings, we realized that by creating a fun, family-friendly annual fundraiser in the park, we could meet the goals of awareness, foot traffic and fundraising year over year.

Solution

NEWaukee designed the Urban Island Beach Party in 2009 to attract the community to the park by creating an island-themed festival featuring local musicians, artists, restaurants, and small businesses. Sunset yoga, paddle boarding, beach cabanas, kayaking, and floating lantern activities allowed attendees to experience all aspects of the park with family and friends.

Results

Since its first year, the festival has been attended by thousands of newcomers to the park each year and raised over $10,000 for the Friends of Lakeshore State Park’s fundraising campaigns through on site donations, beer garden sales, and floating lantern festival. The park is now visited by thousands of people each day for recreational activities and has become one of the most popular parks in the city.