It started as a way to come together downtown to celebrate the community we all share. The area tends to get quite busy on the days of the festival, so you may prefer to park your rig at your campsite and use public transportation to get there. Headliners at the free concerts were B.B King, Bill Monroe, Don McLean, Sarah Vaughan and Hank Williams Jr. Green Day. Storey produced the Five Nights concerts directly for the Lyndhurst Foundation, which later pushed our new Friends of Festival board to hire him as a promoter based on that curious no-charge experiment in urban animation to see if blacks and whites could gather without violence. Contrary to the official Riverbend history on their page, the 1981 Five Nights in Chattanooga had nothing to do with Riverbend except, in looking back, as a bad model, since the three ticketed summer acts in 1982 lost the fledgling festival about $100,000 under executive director Bruce Storey's leadership, based on comments from the first officers. Friends of the Festival. As the first president of the board of directors for the first Riverbend, Breland was there almost from the beginning. Venue: Ross's Landing Tagged With Rock Tennessee USA Festivals 4-Day Fests. category_id: null, Instead, it should focus on what was already here, Breland says. The AEC has since become the Southern Lit Alliance and still produces the Celebration of Southern Literature, a weekend event hosting of Southern writers. Jun 5, 2022. The Friends of the Festival Board of Directors met Monday and decided to put the community's largest festival first produced in 1982 on hold for another year. Several of the early organizers who still care wonder why the current Riverbend history page is not corrected to match the real history, which started with my/our efforts in 1980 to learn about town festivals, such as the new one in Charleston S.C., Spoleto USA. Cage the Elephant has won Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album twice, in 2017 for Tell Me I'm Pretty and in 2020 for Social Cues. The festival eventually added three more nights so vendors could make money, according to Robbins. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Join us at Rosss Landing on June 2-4, 2023 and celebrate with us. They will be staffed with trained professionals and festival volunteers. Daniel Thompson/50th Public Affairs Detachment), U. S. Army Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division band play music at the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, June 3, 2022. Chefs and restaurateurs are using locally sourced produce to churn out some delicious food. The goal was to book a variety of acts to bring different audiences down to the river. Sat 27 May 2023 Adjacent Music Festival 2-day Pass (May 27-28, 2023 Atlantic City, NJ, US. Chattanooga, TN's long-running Riverbend Festival has announced the music lineup for its 2022 event, set to return to Ross's Landing on June 3rd-5th. I've sent out a few emails and maybe an editor will catch it for a quick human interest side bar. There are also several paid parking garages, which accept larger vehicles and RVs, but remember to check the length and height of your camper. For more information on tickets and pricing, take a look at the official event website. Pack it with a few essentials like sunscreen, sunglasses, bug spray, earplugs, and a portable charger. We are the most trusted source for local news. We had Jazz legend Count Basie, Soul hitmaker Roberta Flack, Bluegrass & traditional musician John Hartford and gospel singer Andre Couch. Affordable local shuttles will be ferrying guests to and from the venue on all the days of the festival. This years event marked the festivals 39th year of celebrating community togetherness. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Breland says "it is a miracle the thing got started and has continued.". It has been bringing top musical acts to Hamilton County since 1981. Over the years, it has undergone serious wind damage, leading to a new cover, and it has been outfitted with more modern and better audio, lighting and video equipment. Tricks to find the perfect rig. Chattanoogas original music festival is turning 39 in 2022. Talk to News 12 anchors, reporters and meteorologists. Riverbend Festival, or Riverbend, named for the bend in the Tennessee River by locals, began in June of 1982 as a five-night festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee. James Motz, a vocalist assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division band, sings at the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, June 3, 2022. 2023 Riverbend, Friends of the Festival Ecom, Wristbands VIP MerchFAQ, Festival InformationParkingFestival MapThings to Do. Jacob added that, as the band, they are the bridge between civilians and the military, sometimes being the only military members some people get to meet. Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354. RV parks and campsites in the area allow cooking, but you'll need to bring your own appliances and materials. But the details of where, when and how the long-running festival actually got started depends on whom you ask. "People gave out of a sense of civic pride," Robbins says. Thank you! Thomas Savage (19152003) was one of the intermountain West's best novelists. Additionally, Riverbend has won . (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Storey also played a role in starting the Dorothy Patten Fine Arts Series, which showcases performing arts such as music, spoken word and theater. | Updated November 22, 2014 at 12:01 a.m. Youre covered with our custom protection packages. Talk to News 12 anchors, reporters and meteorologists. Provides positive economic impact not only to Chattanooga but also to regional tourism. Ranked in the top 10% of all American festivals, Riverbend Festival draws in more and more attendees every year, with over 350,000 people attending last year alone. Various local and national companies sponsor different stages. The Riverbend Festival was started in June 1982 as a five-night festival in Chattanooga. Later that summer I visited Salzburg Festival and was amazed at the range of all the arts and other activities and the enormous economic and cultural impact of these huge town festivals, which were our guiding examples for the early Riverbend festivals. Chattanooga and the large music festival scene have changed quite a bit since the inaugural Riverbend Festival in 1982. Rent from a pro and travel like one, too. Location: Chattanooga, TN. At Riverbend, it doesn't matter what you believe or where you're at on your spiritual journey. A wide varietyof performers covering almost every music genreentertain the crowd on our three stages set along the backdrop of the Tennessee River at Rosss Landing, also known as the Scenic Citys front porch. The Frnkische Rezat flows through Georgensgmnd into the Rednitz.. widget: true, The Riverbend Festival showcases various genres of music such as country, urban, rock, and bluegrass. Backpacks are prohibited, but you can carry a small bag or purse. Several local acts, including Overland and the Chattanooga Choo Choo Barbershop Chorus took the stage. 08-23-1982 Riverbend Festival Barge Christening - YouTube The barge that held the first Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga is christened. When you see news happening, share it! Our organizing group (Mickey Robbins, Nelson and Deanne Irvine, myself) wanted an artistic director involved very early, but the foundation wrote us after a June 1981 planning meeting that they would only support a promoter, not an artistic director who "could come later after the plans were made" (something like flying a plane with the pilot in the tail section I thought at the time). The Friends of the Festival. "We had 60,000 thousand to 70,000 thousand people down here at a night. But when it wrapped up with the fiddle competition on Sunday, organizers could breathe a sigh of relief. Well see you at the festival! With performances scheduled for the Coca-Cola, Bud Light and Chevrolet stages . Admission is given to people with special scannable wristbands, which can be purchased in southeast Tennessee and north Georgia in the weeks leading up to the festival for a discounted price or purchased at the gate for a regular price. You'd think this would make an interesting feature story for the Festival press office to pass on to the media - if, that is, the FoF knew its own history. Begun in 1982 the Riverbend Festival known locally as just Riverbend, is hugely popular. Though there were events scheduled all over the downtown area, there was actually only one stage a river barge at Rosss Landing. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. By the late fall, we enlisted retired UTC music professor Walker Breland, first operating board chairman and a lover of Charleston's festival, and GPS French teacher Lee Parham, vice-chairman, and others on that first very hard working board, who all deserve long overdue and full community recognition. Wed love to hear from you. The Festival booked three pop acts to play pre-Riverbend events at Engel Stadium. The duo recently won 'Best Vocals Duo' from the 2021 Country Music Association. With the $26,000 Lyndhurst planning grant in May 1981, we had brought in three national festival experts for our festival seminars held at the Chamber of Commerce, concluded with a planning and goal-setting session led by new UTC drama professor Fred Beringer. For me, the band's reappearance brings back good memories of Riverbend's beginnings. Debra Frizzell. You can choose to attend a single day of the Riverbend Festival or all four days. Riverbend Festival, named for the bend in the Tennessee River by locals, began in June of 1982. A free summertime music series that attracts wide-ranging audiences to the riverfront. 2023 2022 2019 2018 2017 2016 2014 2013 2012 2011. [2] The attendance for Riverbend has grown over the years and there are now regularly over 650,000 people that come over the course of the festival from all over Tennessee, the Southeast, the United States, and other countries. The organization celebrated that accomplishment this past weekend at the annual Riverbend Festival. [3] Admission was previously given to people who had collectible Riverbend Pins. And anyone can read through the Lyndhurst archives at UNC at Chapel Hill NC and get the full story from the original documents. The Riverbend Festival is a music event that takes place in Chattanooga, Tennessee every year. Daniel Thompson/50th Public Affairs Detachment), U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Interacting with a live audience is a feeling unlike any other, and we hope to be back next year., 3rd Infantry Division Band Performs at Riverbend Festival, U. S. Army Sgt. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Family-friendly, pet-friendly and welcoming to all to enjoy Saturdays on the river. At first, the city kept Riverfront Parkway open to traffic, using a fence to separate the road from the festival area. virtual: false, Saturday, July 30, 2022 Outlaw Music Festival 2022 featuring Willie Nelson, ZZ Top, Gov't Mule, Larkin Poe, and Particle Kid Doors Open: 4:00pm Show Time: 4:25pm Riverbend Music Center Artists Willie Nelson ZZ Top Gov't Mule Larkin Poe Particle Kid Important Health Update There Are No Health Entry Requirements For This Event. Book a spot at a campsite or RV park nearby in advance. At the time, festivals were a fairly new concept, so essentially the Chattanooga committee was creating something unusual. [3] Admission was previously given to people who had collectible Riverbend Pins. Fri 24 Mar 2023 Ultra Music Festival 2023 Miami, FL, US. This time, were looking at the first headlining acts. King Blvd downtown), 2007 also debuted Riverbend's first ever classical recital featuring pianist, This page was last edited on 6 June 2022, at 11:58. The Riverbend Festival, also called Riverbend, is a well-known annual music festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which was started in June 1982 as a five-night festival. For over 35 years, Riverbend Music Center has provided the Cincinnati area with the best in entertainment experiences with approximately 35 major contemporary music events each season, hosting over 500,000 music-lovers annually. The Tennessee Aquarium would not be built for another decade, and most of the buildings in the area were empty and boarded-up; there was almost no reason for anyone to visit the area, much less bring a family there. The Commodores came to Engel Stadium in June and Rick Springfield played over the Fourth of July. And when looking at how it all came together, you also see the inner workings of the city's artistic, civic and business leaders, getting a glimpse at the creation of the "Chattanooga Way" -- the spirit of cooperation that current civic leaders still like to reference. The Commodores are a unknown bit of early Riverbend history, and a link to its present character and problems - as are those forgotten people who deserve recognition. Sat 25 Feb 2023 Innings Festival 2023 Tempe, AZ, US. 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