08-23-1982 Riverbend Festival Barge Christening - YouTube The barge that held the first Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga is christened. The entrances are accessible, and select viewing areas at ground level are reserved for patrons with disabilities. Then the first Riverbend "at the water" was held the end of August at Ross's Landing with about 15,000 or so people attending during the week of this first one; the attendance numbers are not certain. Some of the must-try items are barbecue, fried chicken, and Mexican street food. The big names in 1987 were Chicago, The Spinners, The Judds, who actually opened for Reba McEntire on the Coca-Cola Stage, Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger together, and Willie Nelson. . "Carey just sat back and laughed, but then he turned around and wrote a check for $25,000," says Breland, professor emeritus from the Music Department at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. But the birth of Riverbend had plenty of labor pains. 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. "People gave out of a sense of civic pride," Robbins says. 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. But the festival lit a spark for the community to gather, celebrate and imagine what the riverfront could become. The most important impact Riverbend makes is the same one that made it so special in 1982: Bringing people together from diverse backgrounds from around the country and the world to enjoy music in a special place that holds so much of Chattanoogas history. The Riverbend Festival, also called Riverbend, was a well-known annual music festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which was started in June 1982 as a five-night festival. Several groups in town were searching for ways to move the city forward both artistically and from a civic standpoint, he says, and, in many ways, Riverbend became that vehicle, providing an opportunity for diverging groups with equally divergent agendas to work together for the greater goal. In case you lose something, head to the lost and found tent close to the main entrance. 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. Riverbend Festival, orRiverbend, named for the bend in the Tennessee River by locals, began in June of 1982 as a five-night festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Join us at Rosss Landing on June 2-4, 2023 and celebrate with us. Headline performers are featured nightly on the Coca-Cola Stage, a barge which has been converted into a full-size concert stage. The Riverbend Festival was started in June 1982 as a five-night festival in Chattanooga. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. The Riverbend Festivals purpose was to bring the community together, and it began as a five-night festival in June of 1982. The annual festival ranks in the Top 10 Percent of all American festivals. 154 relations. The first Riverbend was held at several downtown locations, including a chamber music concert at the Tivoli Theatre, a hot-air balloon launched from Vine Street and carrying a brass trio, and a children's film festival at the old Kirkman High School. Riverbend ignited civic pride, stimulated business and civic leaders to rethink downtown, and showcased the arts. 423-785-1200 | news@wdef.com3300 Broad Street, Chattanooga TN 37408. The festival boasts seven stages, with more than 100 performers. Explore our hotels to find accommodations near Riverbend Festival (in Riverbend Festival) for your personal or business trips. Begun in 1982 the Riverbend Festival known locally as just Riverbend, is hugely popular. 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. Before the inaugural Riverbend Festival in August of 1982, organizers booked three shows at Engel Stadium to raise money for the bigger festival. Though it technically was centered on a fine-arts festival similar to Spoleto, it also provided a blueprint for Riverbend. The Riverbend Festivals purpose was to bring the community together, and it began as a five-night festival in June of 1982. Traffic is not usually a problem in the downtown area, but you can expect it to be quite hectic on the days of the event. Its truly an honor to be able to represent the 3rd Infantry Division in this capacity, said Sgt. Headliners at the free concerts were B.B King, Bill Monroe, Don McLean, Sarah Vaughan and Hank Williams Jr. They will be wearing special Event Staff t-shirts and official ID badges, so youll be able to identify them easily. The food scene in Chattanooga has exploded in recent years. Answer 1 of 6: I love Alison Krauss, but found out about the festival too late to get reserved seats by front of the stage. As of June 1982, "Riverbend", affectionately named after the curve in the Tennessee River, has been a riveting music event ranking in the top 10% of festivals in the country. Stream: Riverbend Festival ( Free Trial) Watch Riverbend Festival! We quote the most whitewashed and comforting portions of his speeches without further examination or questioning his thoughts, more, Next Sunday, I and a group of activists will be counterprotesting a pro-abortion event marking the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Its hosted by a local pro-choice group called the New Suffragettes, more, Walker Valley, McMinn Co. 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Varnell Jr. And the most audacious part of the plan.. the Bessie Smith Jazz Strut on 9th Street (now MLK Blvd), was a huge success. The first ever Riverbend Festival took place in 1982 as a five-day event. You can choose to attend a single day of the Riverbend Festival or all four days. Its a growing business. Breland says "it is a miracle the thing got started and has continued.". At right is an original program from the first Riverbend Festival in August 1982. Some planned events were cancelled because of lack of fan support. detail_page_enabled: true, King Boulevard and Broad Street and -- as the name implies -- it was spread over five consecutive Tuesday nights. While we could go all the way back with our lineups, we thought youd enjoy seeing who has taken our stages over the past couple of decades. But I keep thinking those early workers should have some recognition, and I mean the first working board, not the organizing one that I chaired from June 1981-2. In the rare event of severe weather, you can look for direction from festival staff at that time. It has been bringing top musical acts to Hamilton County since 1981. As the first president of the board of directors for the first Riverbend, Breland was there almost from the beginning. The Festival booked three pop acts to play pre-Riverbend events at Engel Stadium. A few other things are certain, as well. "global": { Yes, I was inspired by reading in the Chattanooga Times in May 1980 about Charleston's 21-day Spoleto Festival and by working to get a Chattanooga town festival started. Concessions are purchased using a token system and many street vendors set up food and souvenir stands. 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. 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. The festival went to wristbands last year, though it offered a collectible pin, as well. Chattanoogas original music festival is turning 39 in 2022. Now, no one seems to know what happened at Riverbend's beginning or care very much, my fellow organizers tell me. Big Collection of Riverbend Pins This collection of Riverbend admission pins goes all the way back to the very first Riverbend Festival held annually in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Riverbend Festival Riverfront Nights Four Bridges Art Festival, About Us Our Work Contact Careers. Plus the Lyndhurst Foundation funded 3 pop-oriented concerts that summer to warm us up. Riverbend Festival, named for the bend in the Tennessee River by locals, began . It's a good idea to wear waterproof shoes, carry a rain poncho, or consider other attire for rain in late May. The festival eventually added three more nights so vendors could make money, according to Robbins. Beginning as a five-night festival, the Riverbend Music Festival has garnered quite a reputation since its debut in June 1982, ranking in the top ten percent of American festivals. Jason Isbell's another "festival goer's festival" artist, and indeed in the audience before his show I met many first-time Riverbend goers, but long time festival veterans, who came from . James Motz, a vocalist assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division band, sings at the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, June 3, 2022. Since Chattanooga is located along the Tennessee River, you can also enjoy outdoor activities like fishing and boating or go on scenic hikes. You are home here. 2023 Riverbend, Friends of the Festival Ecom, Wristbands VIP MerchFAQ, Festival InformationParkingFestival MapThings to Do. Pictured in this undated file photo are some of the many staff and volunteers who have helped stage Riverbend over the years. } } 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. 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. We are proud of our long-standing history in downtown Chattanooga. Although being unfortunately canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, event organizers have pushed through to ensure that this beloved occasion occurs . There are convenience stores in the vicinity, where you can pick up any essentials you need. Onsite camping on the grounds will not be permitted. In some ways, figuring out who started Riverbend is like trying to definitively pinpoint who invented rock 'n' roll; you can name dozens of artists that could claim part of the title, yet each of those had their own influences in the past. See the Riverbend Festival 2023 lineup. It showed that they would," says Mickey Robbins, an original member of the committee that Hetzler chaired. 08-24-1982 Riverbend Festival 1,477 views Apr 15, 2011 3 Dislike Share Save wrcbarchive 14 subscribers Highlights of the first Riverbend Festival, including interviews with performers,. Paramore. Alejandro Bertorelli, a bass guitarist from the 3rd Infantry Division band, performs at the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, June 3, 2022. Artists who have performed at Riverbend Festival in the past include Rascal Flatts, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Martina McBride, Michelle Branch, Johnny Appleseed, Trisha Yearwood, The Avett Brothers, Little Big Town, Steven Curtis Chapman, Sheryl Crow, The Beach Boys, Goo Goo Dolls, Dierks Bentley, and 3 Doors Down. Thank you! The Riverbend Festival. Zedd. element: "#evvnt-calendar-widget", map: false, Over the years, the festival has grown from five nights to nine nights of its current run. Flack, who earned three No. }. In fact, very little of what exists today near that part of the river is the same. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Breland says it was Storey who personally asked him to be the festival's first president. For safety reasons, no chairs will be allowed on site before the gates officially open. Several local acts, including Overland and the Chattanooga Choo Choo Barbershop Chorus took the stage. But the now unknown tough work was done by the early full boards that followed our planning efforts, especially after the financial losses of the Engel Stadium concerts when the whole thing almost ended. 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. Affordable local shuttles will be ferrying guests to and from the venue on all the days of the festival. 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. discovery: { It has since evolved into three nights and is nationally known. 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. Who funds Riverbend FESTIVAL. virtual: false, There is little doubt that Hetzler, with financial help from the Lyndhurst Foundation, was the driving force behind the first Riverbend Festival, however. Chattanooga is situated along the Georgia border in the southeast part of Tennessee. function evvntDiscoveryInit() { In a partnership with local audio retailer Listen Up, CDs and playback equipment were shipped in from Japan. 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. The Bessie Smith Strut, originally called the Bessie Smith Jazz Strut, on Ninth Street, now M.L. Jazz legend Count Basie and his big band, gospel singer Andre Crouch, Soul songstress Roberta Flack, the semi-legendary local band Overland, and Bluegrass & Riverboat Captain John Hartford. We persisted. [4] A wristband provides admission for either one night or every night of the festival except for the Bessie Smith Strut. 12. There is a bend in the Tennessee River on which the City of Chattanooga was built, and the inspiration for the name of the event comes from this. The annual festival now goes on for eight nights and ranks in the top 10% of all American festivals. Sign up for our e-newsletter for festival updates! Spalt is situated between Nuremberg, Ansbach, and Treuchtlingen in the north of the Franconian lakelands.In the southwest of the city is the Great Brombachsee and its dam. Music is my favorite form of communication; no matter the age, race, language people can always relate with one another through music, said Spc. Find tickets online today using Songkick Event Details. 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. Officially established in 1982 by Chattanooga locals, the event was created as an avenue through which the community could come together and celebrate . 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. But even in their heyday of the 1990s and early 2000s, most of the music festivals that arose in other cities were three- or four-day events, unlike Riverbend's week-or-more schedule. 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