It's another big weekend for summer festivals, including the annual Ribfest and Craft Beer show in downtown Barrie.

Events like this bring people and money to town.  

But not everybody loves these events.  Some business owners are wondering what it will take to make a buck off these well-attended events.

Ribfest is back and about 20,000 people are expected to take it in. It's a popular day for people with big appetites. Alan Smith is here from England.

“We come to sample the beer and the food and just the day out,” he says.

Ribfest is one of 36 annual events held in Barrie every year - some big, some small. Many of them are held downtown or along the waterfront. Kempenfest is the biggest by far. About 200,000 people pump nearly $6 million into the local economy that weekend. That spending includes restaurant visits and hotel stays. About 70 per cent of people who attend Kempenfest are local. The rest come from out of town.

But not every event is big money. Last month's triathlon, for example, was not a popular event for many downtown business owners. The closed streets and all the fencing made it tough for shoppers to get around. And some shop owners said they actually lost money that day.

“At this rate we cannot survive downtown,” says Angela Budran.

Budran owns Angie’s Outdoor on Dunlop Street. She says most weekend events are just not bringing the right people downtown - people who are ready to spend money.

“For Ribfest I am alone in the store right now, normally we would be three people,” Budran says. “There's no one coming in to shop.”

Craig Stevens with the Business Improvement Association in Barrie says he is seeing a new approach to new events coming to town and thinks it will make a difference everyone with a business.

“There are a lot more smaller events” he says. “Independent events, niche events. So where Promenade Days and Ribfest are sort of what we call a mass appeal event, a lot of these new events are sort of focusing in on niche groups. It's bringing different people down here.”

Promenade Days is the second biggest weekend event for the city with 100,000 people taking it in.

Craig Stevens with the BIA says the average out-of-town day-visitor spends about $30 per day.