A front-row seat to Chattanooga's growing festival scene

Chattanooga's festival scene is growing rapidly thanks to the city's growth, its proximity to other major cities, and the current availability of parking, promoters say.

Jfest, a one-day Christian music festival sponsored by the nonprofit Christian radio station J103, held its event at Camp Jordan for 20 years but, anticipating growth, this year decided to move the May event to the Tennessee Riverpark off Amnicola Highway.

Attendance has grown over the years to 10,000, and moving the event to the scenic - and spacious - bank of the Tennessee River will hopefully drive those numbers even higher, says Ted Gocke, festival director and morning show host at J103.

"Once you hit 10,000 people, 15,000 and 20,000 come in just a few years," Gocke says. "We will get momentum the more people come. The more the festival makes, then you can invest more in your artist lineup, you can invest more in marketing.

Gawvii performs at a previous Jfest at Camp Jordan Park. The Christian music festival, which draws more than 10,000 people, will move to the Tennessee Riverpark for its May event. Organizers hope the new location will bring 15,000 to 20,000 fans within a few years.

"We draw people from five to six different states, but once we can market in other states, then you will see it grow even more."

Giving toward this year's nonprofit festival, which is supported by fundraising and donations, has allowed Jfest to double its lineup of musicians, which now includes headliners Lecrae, a two-time Grammy Award winner, and Matthew West, a popular Christian artist who has played at Jfest three times before.

"This year's lineup, I am really excited," says Gocke. "Just yesterday we sold out of the last discounted group (of attendance tickets)."

No one has held a festival of this size at the Tennessee Riverpark off Amnicola Highway, but Jfest organizers saw a beautiful backdrop and great potential for the space. They drafted a proposal to Hamilton County park officials, including ideas on how festival organizers could address security, parking and power issues, and it was accepted, Gocke says.

"They have always wanted to have an event there but no one ever came with plans to do it," he says. "They are being very helpful and supportive. They are putting in a lot of the infrastructure we will need."

Chattanooga State is partnering with Jfest to provide parking, and the county is cutting an entrance path between the campus and the riverpark so attendees will have easy access. When it is all said and done, people will likely have to walk less than they did when the fest was at Camp Jordan, Gocke says. The county is also creating a gravel patch for the stage to sit on.

"I wouldn't doubt that in a few years there would be a permanent stage there," he says.

And that would add another large, scenic festival space that the area can promote, Gocke notes.

Moon River, a new multi-day festival held in Coolidge Park - which has been selling out of tickets just hours after putting them on sale - is already drawing a lot of out-of-towners to the Scenic City, says Bryan Benson, vice president of booking with AC Entertainment, a Knoxville-based music marketing and promotion company which puts on Moon River and books acts for the big local venues, as well as headliners for Riverbend.

Fans dance to the band Convertibull at the 2018 Riverbend Festival. Organizers have cut the once nine-day festival in half for 2019 and added higher-caliber performers.

More than 60 percent of this year's tickets were sold to out-of-towners, he says. Twenty-two artists will play and 22,000 people will attend over the festival weekend in September.

"Chattanooga is doing amazing, and for us it is impressive to launch an event there and have back-to-back years sell out in 24 hours," says Benson. "That is insane."

The changing downtown is certainly a part of the multi-day festival's draw. A growing number of restaurants, bars and hotels are popping up all over the downtown core, within walking distance of the festival grounds.

"Coolidge Park is one of the great spots in the city, and we are just grateful that the city allows us to do it there," Benson says. "Artists like Chattanooga. For those that don't know about it, it is even more exciting for us. Folks coming for Moon River don't even know what the city has to offer. It is one of the great Southern small towns and there is so much happening with the vibe downtown and urban wilderness and restaurant scene - everything within spitting distance. It is a pretty magical place."

Essentially, Benson says, right now Chattanooga's festival scene is growing because it is a concert promoter's dream. "A beautiful city that fans and artist want to go to."

For approximately 35 years, Riverbend was the city's premier festival, growing out of a group of concerned citizens that wanted to bring people together at the city's then-new waterfront space. Held at Ross's Landing since 1982, Riverbend is now finding a lot of company.

As downtown and the Southside area have evolved, adding luxury apartments, high-end restaurants and shopping options, the downtown music scene has exploded, says festival organizer Chip Baker. Track 29 (now closed) opened. AC Entertainment became a local player. Local auditoriums began booking more shows, and now Chattanooga is sustaining a host of high-caliber festivals such as Moon River. Riverbend, too, is amping up its presence by cutting the typical nine-day festival in half so that it can bring in more notable artists. Despite higher ticket prices, officials said the first three tiers sold out the day they were released.

"Things kind of went crazy, blew up and picked up momentum," Baker says. "I have children and they are talking about wanting to come back here and that was not the case. Chattanooga has become such a cool town."

Right now, Baker says his biggest concern for Riverbend, as well as other festivals, is parking.

"If there was a development on the waterfront, that would take a lot of parking," he says. "Really, that is the front porch of Chattanooga."

Weeks after Baker's interview for this piece, local developers Jimmy White and Hiren Desai revealed plans for 112 acres along the riverfront, stretching from the Southside's 19th Street down to M.L. King Boulevard, the back door of Riverbend. They want to turn the land formerly owned by Alstom energy plant into "Chattanooga's Next Great Neighborhood." Included in the preliminary plans for new office spaces, townhomes, condos and hotels are nearly 100,000 square feet of restaurant and retail, including a brewpub and a 10,000-square-foot food hall and music venue, plus seven parking garages.

Where do you see your festival in five years and what do you hope it will contribute to Chattanooga?

Jfest

"We will get momentum the more people come. The more the festival makes, then you can invest more in your artist lineup. You can invest more in marketing. We draw people from five to six different states, but once we can market in other states, then you will see it grow even more. People will be exposed to that beautiful park there. There will be a lot of people in the surrounding area who have never been to the Riverwalk."

- Ted Gocke, festival director and morning show host at J103

Moon River Festival

"We like what we have and we see doing this for a long time to come. Coolidge Park is what it is with the footprint. We are going to do this event at this size and scope, high quality as possible, year over year. And hopefully we can build a great name and do it at a high level every year."

- Bryan Benson, vice president of booking at AC Entertainment

Riverbend

"We would be 43 years old (in five years), and I expect us to be strong and vibrant and relevant - not just to people in our community."

- Chip Baker, executive director of Friends of the Festival