True/False Film Festival returns to normal venues after last year’s pandemic restrictions
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia's hallmark film festival, True/False, returns Thursday to downtown, and this year it will be back at familiar locations indoors.
True/False was held outdoors at Stephens Lake Park in 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This year, with reduced virus spread and widely available vaccinations, the festival will be held at its normal Downtown Columbia venues. Organizers and City of Columbia officials are glad to see the festival, which has a large economic and cultural impact on the city, return to a recognizable form.
Barbie Banks, co-custodian of Rag Tag Film Society which puts on True/False, said the film and art festival fills an entertainment and tourism gap in Columbia between big University of Missouri events.
"Because we're in the winter, there is kind of a lull between football and us and then graduation," Banks said. "We're, I feel like, an important part of the economy here in Columbia, as well as making a cultural impact."
Tourism has been down in Columbia because of the pandemic. Data from the Columbia Regional Airport shows the city's lodging tax revenue was $39,783.62 in May, the month of the festival last year. It was $38,842.43 in March of 2020; True/False happened the first week of March that year, just before the pandemic hit.
In a normal year, the festival usually draws more than 15,000 people. Last year, organizers expected about 2,000 to 3,000 people. They hope 2022 will be a bounce-back.
Megan McConachie, strategic communications manager at the Columbia Convention and Visitor's Bureau, said True/False had an economic impact of $2.2 million in 2018, when the bureau last did a study. When conducting an economic impact study, the Convention and Visitor's Bureau takes into account hotels, restaurants, tickets and any other things people spend money on when taking trips.
"With something like True/False, there's kind of an extended impact," McConachie said. "People go back home, they talk to their friends and family about what a great time they had here, and that creates a cycle of visitation that continues to benefit us."
McConachie said she's seeing tourism come back after it took a rough hit during the pandemic.
"Seeing events like True/False happen again, at least in a recognizable form, really does make us feel more optimistic about our destination and more people visiting us in the near future," McConachie said.
However, the festival is still implementing some coronavirus-related health policies.
"We are requiring vaccinations or negative tests for all of our attendees, staff and volunteers," Banks said. "We're requiring masks when in the theater. And we've also moved all of our food and drink outdoors."
Banks said True/False is a very profitable time for Rag Tag. As the flagship theater of the festival, Rag Tag is expecting larger crowds than it has seen since the beginning of the pandemic.
"We believe movies are best seen in a theater with a crowd of people to experience it together, and that's what we get to do at True/False," Banks said.
