Friends of the Festival, the organization that produces several Chattanooga area entertainment events including the canceled Riverbend Festival, is planning to move ahead this weekend with the rebranded Riverfront Nights concert despite a new countywide mask mandate and a rule from city leaders that even a smaller event can’t happen at Ross’s Landing.
The group’s executive director, Mickey McCamish, says he was prepared for both new rules.
“I have 18,000 masks in a warehouse prepared to give everyone who doesn’t have one,” McCamish said.
And he’s applying to Hamilton County for approval to hold the smaller events – known as Chattanooga Unite – at the county-owned Tennessee Riverpark on Amnicola Highway. The event goes before the county commission on Wednesday, July 8, for approval.
“I always try to have a backup plan, or a couple of options out there,” he said.