There was no Five Nights connection with their support for our Friends of the Festival group, which started with a proposal from me and Mickey Robbins May 5, 1981. The Commodores came to Engel Stadium in June and Rick Springfield played over the Fourth of July. RV parks and campsites in the area allow cooking, but you'll need to bring your own appliances and materials. This won us a $26,000 planning grant, larger than another foundation test grant for a Chamber of Commerce weekend downtown festival similar to past limited efforts by the Allied Arts organization. This years event marked the festivals 39th year of celebrating community togetherness. Hetzler and Richard Brewer, who was partners with Storey in Variety Services, insist that an event called Five Nights in Chattanooga, which Variety produced in 1981 with a $150,000 grant from the Lyndhurst Foundation, had nothing to do with Riverbend. Riverbend ignited civic pride, stimulated business and civic leaders to rethink downtown, and showcased the arts. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit live at Riverbend Festival 2022. Established in 1982, the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is a grandiose summer kick-off celebration with music, family-friendly attractions and delicious fried foods. 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. Over the years, the festival grew into the three nights of its current run and presently ranks in the top 10 percent of all American festivals. Music truly enriches the human experience.. www.riverbendfestival.com +1 423 756 2211 www.facebook.com/rbfestival Often called "Chattanooga's Family Reunion," Riverbend is the city's biggest music festival. [3] Admission was previously given to people who had collectible Riverbend Pins. It has since evolved into three nights and is nationally known. Major local and national companies, such as Covista Communications, Unum, and Budweiser, sponsor other stages throughout the riverfront area. [3] Admission was previously given to people who had collectible Riverbend Pins. widget: true, More than a hundred acts, both well-known and new, converge each year to perform various kinds of music, including classic rock, country, urban, and bluegrass, as well as jam bands, on three stages set alongside the Tennessee River. For Sid Hetzler, a former reporter, college professor and local business man, it's a pretty straight line from September 1980, when he visited Charleston, S.C., and attended the Spoleto Charleston Festival, until the first Riverbend. Music lovers enjoy performances from three stages set along the backdrop of the Tennessee River at Ross's Landing on Riverfront Parkway . Using 40+ years of experience, we lend our expertise, resources and partnerships to other organizations. 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. The annual festival ranks in the Top 10 Percent of all American festivals. All rights reserved. text: "Promote your event", All Ages. Tricks to find the perfect rig. "(Riverbend) succeeded by changing," Moore says. The plan came out of a recommendation by a consultant from New York who was hired to find a way to bring people to a downtown that, at the time, rolled up the sidewalks after 6 p.m. Five Nights lost money, but proved a point to some people, especially those concerned by deteriorating race relations in the city. But when it wrapped up with the fiddle competition on Sunday, organizers could breathe a sigh of relief. 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. It [Five Nights] was the precursor to what happened afterwards.". Operating with only one stage, located where the Coca-Cola Stage is now, performers included Flack, John Hartford, who performed on Saturday and emceed the International Fiddler's Championship Finals on Sunday. Metered parking is available on most streets. The Riverbend Festival was started in June 1982 as a five-night festival in Chattanooga. }); Various local and national companies sponsor different stages. 12. publisher_id: "7057", Much of this is in my 1990 Emory University dissertation on town festivals but the FoF management has not responded to these historical materials when offered. See the Riverbend Festival 2023 lineup. discovery: { 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. Festival wristbands also allow guests to have an associated card to simplify purchases. In the rare event of severe weather, you can look for direction from festival staff at that time. There are convenience stores in the vicinity, where you can pick up any essentials you need. In fact, it's not even a single line, but a series of separate lines that eventually merged into one. Sign up for our e-newsletter for festival updates! 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. 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). Individual nights can see some 80,000 people in attendance. Riverbend Festival, named for the bend in the Tennessee River by locals, began in June of 1982 as a five-night festival in Chattanooga to bring the community together. The Beach Boys on Memorial Day Weekend, The Commodores in June & Rick Springfield on the Fourth of July weekend. The food scene in Chattanooga has exploded in recent years. 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. Riverbend Festival 1986 Setlists Jun 13 1986 Date Friday, June 13, 1986 - Sunday, June 22, 1986 Venue Ross's Landing, Chattanooga, TN, USA Report festival So far there are setlists of 14 gigs. The first festival, which was free and ran from Tuesday to Sunday, Aug. 25-29, included a patron's cruise on the Southern Belle riverboat, organ recitals at two downtown churches and a fiddle competition. evvnt_require("evvnt/discovery_plugin").init({ When it comes to food, you'll find much more than the usual festival fare at the Riverbend Festival. But the details of where, when and how the long-running festival actually got started depends on whom you ask. Individual nights can see some 80,000 people in attendance. Hits 96 is proud to announce the return of Chattanooga's Original Music Festival Riverbend 2022!. Breland also recalls riding up and down the Tennessee River in a boat with singer/songwriter Roberta Flack following her performance on the fifth night of the then six-night festival. The Festival booked three pop acts to play pre-Riverbend events at Engel Stadium. The new festival was a hit and has now lasted forty years and counting. Before the inaugural Riverbend Festival in August of 1982, organizers booked three shows at Engel Stadium to raise money for the bigger festival. An interview with this talented band, if any of the original players remain, would be an interesting tie-in to the early days of the struggling festival and to its original ideas of downtown revitalization, not just of riverfront development for investors. I suppose Commissioner Robinson's "history" on the Riverbend official web page reflects her memories or what someone uninformed wrote for her. Thank you! [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. 423-785-1200 | news@wdef.com3300 Broad Street, Chattanooga TN 37408. The other two acts were the Beach Boys on Memorial Day 1982 and Rick Springfield followed that July. The duo recently won 'Best Vocals Duo' from the 2021 Country Music Association. partner_name: "WDEF", The official Riverbend history web page really should be more accurate in my opinion as it leaves out the visionary, hard working "heroes" of the early Riverbends. I've sent out a few emails and maybe an editor will catch it for a quick human interest side bar. Most parts of the parkway are wheelchair-navigable and accessible parking is available near the main gate. Crowds were so large for the concert, the fence was removed for safety reasons and the entire Riverbend site has been closed to vehicle traffic since. 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. Pord ujawnionych dat, znalazo si rwnie miejsce na 12 . We are the most trusted source for local news. Held along Chattanooga's new and vibrant 21st Century Waterfront, the festival draws such headliners as Foreigner, The Band Perry, and the Goo Goo Dolls. The Lyndhurst's Riverbend archives make it clear Mr. Jack Lupton saw the Five Nights project as a one-time experiment but wanted the foundation out of the concert business with its potential for liability lawsuits and that a "citizen's group should be found.". The barge floats just off the shore against a large collection of amphitheater seats built into a hillside at the water's edge. Stream: Riverbend Festival ( Free Trial) Watch Riverbend Festival! Riverbend Festival, Chattanooga's original music festival, announced their entire lineup for this year's festival. Security personnel will be present at the entrances and will also be present inside the park during the events. Riverbend is more than a good show. The organization celebrated that accomplishment this past weekend at the annual Riverbend Festival. There was a nasty attitude toward mountain music, but this is mountain, or fiddle music, territory.". 154 relations. In subsequent early years, the festival included boat/ski/jet ski races on the river during the day. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. We dreamed of festivals such as Salzburg that made the city a tourist destination six weeks every summerand a financial bonanza like a second Christmas shopping season for all merchants. The festival itself only had one proper stage, the barge in the river. At the time of Five Nights, Robbins was director of the Chattanooga Arts Council, which merged in 1982 with Allied Arts of Greater Chattanooga, now called ArtsBuild. We live, work and play right here in the Tennessee Valley. Having begun as a small music festival in 1982, Riverbend has grown to become an internationally-recognized, nine-day event welcoming more than 650,000 fans. Music festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, International Festivals and Events Association. Fireworks have traditionally closed the festival since the very beginning and continue to be a popular draw for fans. This was the first time 3rd IDs band played at the Riverbend Festival. Wed love to hear from you. Though there were events scheduled all over the downtown area, there was actually only one stage a river barge at Rosss Landing. Attorney Hugh Moore, who joined the Riverbend board in 1983, called the music festival's creation "an organic progression.". Download the News 12 News and Weather Apps on your smart phone or tablet device to receive breaking news and weather push notifications the minute it happens. 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. The annual festival now goes on for nine nights and ranks in the top 10% of all American festivals. For safety reasons, no chairs will be allowed on site before the gates officially open. "There was a need for racial healing, an economic boost and several other factors. Riverbend Festival 2022. Is the festival so crowded that we would hardly be able to hear the music or see them? We celebrate community and we tell your stories. Don't forget that you will likely cross a bridge or two near this 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. It showed that they would," says Mickey Robbins, an original member of the committee that Hetzler chaired. A: True B: False. function evvntDiscoveryInit() { 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. category_id: null, When Riverbend began, it was not the same Ross's Landing that's now part of the multi-million dollar 21st Century Waterfront. When you see news happening, share it! Riverbend Festival, named for the bend in the Tennessee River by locals, began in June of 1982 as a five-night festival in Chattanooga to bring the community together. The barge floats just off the shore against a large collection of amphitheater seats built into a hillside at the water's edge. It is now celebrating more than 35 years as Chattanooga's premier event. After a dinner at my home in September 1980 for some friends and arts leaders to brainstorm the possibility of such a large festival for Chattanooga, I talked these examples up all the fall of 1980 and spring 1981, to the point that Allied Arts leaders warned me and Mickey Robbins not to continue to push this since it might "dilute" their fundraising efforts. We provide a full spectrum of logistical services and consultation tailored to meet specific event planning needs. 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. It has since evolved into three nights and is nationally known. The 3rd IDs band was one of a wide variety of performers covering almost every musical genre at this event. We are your neighbors. [4] A wristband provides admission for either one night or every night of the festival except for the Bessie Smith Strut. Required fields are marked *, function evvntDiscoveryInit() { 2023 Riverbend, Friends of the Festival Ecom, Wristbands VIP MerchFAQ, Festival InformationParkingFestival MapThings to Do. 2023 2022 2019 2018 2017 2016 2014 2013 2012 2011. The Beach Boys on Memorial Day Weekend, The Commodores in June & Rick Springfield on the Fourth of July weekend. Thu 16 Mar 2023 Reggae Rise Up 2023 St Petersburg, FL, US. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. 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 investment our audience makes in our festival increases the Chattanooga-Hamilton County tax collections by $800,000 and provides $30 million in economic impact. The Riverbend Festival is a music event that takes place in Chattanooga, Tennessee every year. "It's complicated, of course, but I did live through it," he says in a recent email. One touching the leg decides it's a tree; one at the trunk thinks it's a snake, one at the ears thinks it's a fan. Riverbend Festival is a rain or shine event. From The Archives: The First Riverbend Festival The very first Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga actually ran during late August of 1982 August 18, 2022 Collins Parker CHATTANOOGA. So far the event has certainly lived up to the hype and you can watch all the action, no matter where you are, by following . Major local and national companies, such as Covista Communications, Unum, and Budweiser, sponsor other stages throughout the riverfront area. After missing a year due to the pandemic, we will celebrate 40 years of music in 2023! (U.S. Army photo by Spc. For me, the band's reappearance brings back good memories of Riverbend's beginnings. 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