Despite adapting its approach to produce shows in hopes of “keeping the doors open” and employees getting a regular paycheck, Friends of the Festival, the organization that produces the Riverbend Festival, has reduced its staff from seven to two and is liquidating its assets.
The move was made to streamline operations in the hope of surviving as an organization by presenting a “different festival” in the future, according to board chair Mary Kilbride.
“Our goal and our mission is to have a Riverbend Festival in the future,” she said.
She said Friends of the Festival has enough money in reserve to launch a new festival at a later date, and the goal going forward is to figure out how that might work.
“We don’t know what it will look like, but we know we’d like it to be on the river, and we’d like it to be music-centric, but we will have to take the temperature of the public when the time comes to see what social distancing even looks like in the future. I feel certain the festival will be streamlined.”