I can see this from both angles. The first angle is, the mayor has gone ahead and from what I gather from the story, secretly withheld the agreement and failed

I can see this from both angles. The first angle is, the mayor has gone ahead and from what I gather from the story, secretly withheld the agreement and failed to inform the locals or even let them have a say/voice their opinion. People just want to be heard, and when local politicians go making decisions that affect the town (however big or small) without consulting the inhabitants, of course people are going to be angry about this. Then you can see it from the other angle. The $500k sum is just a fee for the company to have the right to have the party, think of it as a leasing fee. When you factor in all of the other things like accommodation, food, labour, cabling, generators, lighting and the fact 1000 people flocking to local stores, staff, law enforcement/security and then the clean-up, presumably that is going to significantly boost the local economy quite a lot. If the party is properly controlled and constrained within the designated street, is it really hurting anyone? Financially hotels/motels are going to be the biggest winners and probably rarely experience an influx of 1000+ visitors at once staying for 3 days. Aside from the fact a company that produces alcoholic beverages is throwing a party and potentially sending the wrong message to some, put aside the moral indifference and it's just a controlled party being attended by young young young. The inhabitants against the party need to understand they live in a town most likely being kept alive by tourists anyway. There will always be resistance to any kind of change (however temporary), especially those who spent a lot of money moving there (investors and retirees especially). The drinking and partying is already happening (albeit on a small scale) and like pointed out, will give the local economy a significant boost and could potentially result in some of the attendees coming to the party liking the place and coming back for a holiday at a later time. This party has also generated a lot of publicity for the town, people that haven't heard of the place before might be more inclined to visit now that they've heard of it. I can see the good and bad, and unless I am just being ignorant and not seeing the bigger picture, it seems the good outweighs the bad in this situation.