A week after Chip Baker announced his retirement as executive director of the Riverbend Festival, longtime director of marketing and sponsorships Mickey McCamish has been named his replacement.
During Friends of the Festival’s regularly scheduled board meeting Tuesday, board President Mary Kilbride said it was also decided to partner with the staff at Songbirds Guitar Museum under the direction of President Johnny Smith to collaborate in booking the entertainment for the festival and to help with production and marketing.
In July, Baker told the board he would be leaving.
“We have been discussing this for the last 90 days and asking what would be the future of Riverbend 2020, and looking at 2019 and saying, ‘What do we want to do differently?'” Kilbride said.
The festival made wholesale changes last year, including cutting the event from nine days to four, doubling the ticket price and partnering with AC Entertainment in Knoxville, which helped book the four headlining acts – Weezer, Keith Urban, Macklemore and Lionel Richie.