Riverbend rocks Chattanooga on opening night

39th Riverbend Festival is the first held by city since 2019

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) — After a two-year hiatus, Riverbend finally returned to downtown Chattanooga.

The festivities began early when Hollywood icon Leslie Jordan was welcomed home as the festival’s honorary host.

“I’m so honored and I want to thank each and every one of you for this,” Jordan said. “It’s just wonderful. Thank you.”

Due to the recent trend of mass shootings in America, Executive Director Mickey McCamish of Friends of the Festival wanted attendees to both “feel good” and, most importantly, safe.

“It was a tough road to get here but we’re here and that’s the important thing,” McCamish. “We want to produce a very safe festival and everyone have a real good time. We’ve reinforced safety with the fact that we’re using uniformed, trained police officers to do our security.”

But, of course, Riverbend isn’t Riverbend without the music.

After enduring the pandemic, singing and dancing from residents and visitors alike began filling the city streets once again.

At the 39th ever Riverbend, both performers and guests are excited about the weekend slate of artists and the return of the famed festival.

“We’re very grateful, especially as musicians,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Justin Smith. “We do a lot of stuff with our mouths and singing into microphones and things of that nature. So it’s a very big positive for us to get back out in the community and do things without wearing the masks and being able to kind of connect with people one-on-one that way.”

“This is my first year here but it’s been pretty cool,” said Riverbend Attendee Mia Housley. “I just like all the trucks lined up, it’s super cool. And the music … I’m really excited for Cage the Elephant.”

“[We’ve planned] coming out here probably around six months because we get the slips a little bit in advance,” said Nick Riley, Housley’s boyfriend. “Everybody’s here — young to old. It’s definitely nice being back here.”