Bruce StoreyBruce Storey, 73, co-founder of the Riverbend Festival, died Saturday in Denver, where he had lived for a number of years.
While Storey’s time in Chattanooga was relatively short, he had a profound influence on the local entertainment scene. He co-founded Variety Services, which created Five Nights in Chattanooga in 1981, and the Riverbend Festival the following year. He also had a hand in creating the Dorothy Patten Performance Arts Series, now Patten Performances.
“Without Bruce, we would not have a lot of the things we have today,” said Hugh Moore, a longtime Friends of the Festival board member and past president.
Walker Breland, now professor emeritus in the music department, worked with Storey while both were at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and it was at Breland’s house that the Riverbend plan was formulated.
“He was an easy person to work with,” Breland said. “He was very creative and we are doing many things today that were his ideas.”