Bonnaroo may generate more than $51 million for Manchester and Tennessee

A time lapse photo puts bright colors from the ferris wheel spinning behind the Planet Roo statue during the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn., on June 9, 2012.

This year’s 12th annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is estimated to generate more than $51 million for Manchester, Tenn., Coffee County and the state, according to a study based on the 2012 festival’s impact.

Manchester, a small and usually quiet town, will be transformed into the seventh-largest city in the state when 80,000 Bonnaroo attendees from all 50 states and overseas come to the festival’s 700-acre farm site for the festival.

“By bringing together individuals from around the world, Bonnaroo organizers have created a phenomenon that directly enriches the Tennessee locals who host them,” said Daniel Kah, who oversaw the study by Greyhill Advisors about the economic impact of Bonnaroo 2012.

The study released Monday found the festival generated $36 million in direct expenditures by attendees (money spent on things such as gas, food and hotels) before, during and after the 2012 event. It also generated $15 million in indirect and induced economic activity, or money spent by people who have increased earnings as a result of the money made by the festival.