Riverbend Festival struggles to survive into 2021

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – The Riverbend Festival is in a struggle to survive after 2020.

Friends of the Festival have had to cut their staff to just two people and are liquidating assets.

The steps were made to allow them to come back in some form in 2021.

There was no Riverbend Festival… meaning no money… in 2020 because of Covid-19.

But the annual festival was in transition even before the pandemic.

The traditional 10 days music event was scaled back to four days and the festival site revamped.

The Festival is narrowing in on it’s 40th anniversary (2022).

After the first 5-day event in 1982, Riverbend got longer, added more events like speedboat racing, and moved from August to June.

But it never missed a year.. until now.

On Tuesday, our Wintston Reed talked to Executive Director Mickey McCamish about the past and the future of Chattanooga’s signature event.

“This photo here is the iconc Riverbend.”

Since 2011, Friends of the Festival Executive Director Mickey McCamish has witnessed the Riverbend Fesitval turn out to be a success.

“The mission of Riverbend was to bring people into the downtown area. That was it’s mission.”

This year, the festival has been canceled, 7 employees were let go, and venue assets like stages were liquidated.

“Historically Riverbend has funded itself with proceeds from one Riverbend to the next. Sell a wrist band. Sell a concession.”

McCamish says these budget cuts were made in order to give the Riverbend Festival a chance to survive in the future.

“It can be much fewer stages and it could be a lot less people.”

McCamish’s goal is to host the next Riverbend Festival by the second half of 2021. When asked about ticket sales, he said the prices will be determined based on the artist and not the capacity of the event Reporting in Chattanooga Winston Reed News 12 Now.