By GENE STOUT

Concertgoers spent nearly $56 million last year at The Gorge Ampitheatre, the Tri-City Herald reports.

That figure includes ticket sales, food, merchandise and camping, based on information released by Live Nation, which owns and operates the amphitheater. The figures came from a study by former state Department of Revenue Director Don Burrows.

Gorge revenue had been flat since 2009, a year when concertgoers spent $34.3. million, the newspaper says.

Last year’s revenue was apparently the result of an increased number of multi-day music festivals, such as Watershed, Paradiso, Sasquatch! and the Dave Matthews Band.

Live Nation commissioned the study because of questions about its economic impact that came during the process of rezoning The Gorge as a master planned resort, which would include more permanent buildings and campground improvements.

The rezoning request is now before the Grant County Commissioners, with a hearing scheduled Sept. 2.

Read the entire story in the Tri-City Herald here.

And read my story in The Seattle Times last May about the 2014 Gorge season here.