Since the annual Moon River Festival moved here in 2018, music has been a big draw to the Coolidge Park site, but the setting itself has become one of the constant stars of the show in many ways.
“I hear about it every year (from patrons),” Jonathan Susman, director of special events and programming for the city, said in a phone interview.
The festival will get underway Saturday around noon with music from Madeline Edwards and will conclude with The National closing the day at 10 p.m.
Sunday’s lineup includes Keb’ Mo’, Band of Horses and headliner Leon Bridges at 9 p.m.
Susman said owners Live Nation and producers C3 Presents transform the park into a gated and ticketed space with two stages at opposing ends of the park and a variety of food vendors, places to hang out for adults and children and a comfortable space to watch a show.
“What they do to the park is incredible, but the natural backdrop is amazing,” Susman said.
“To be able to stay downtown and walk to it and see the river and the bridges and the skyline is incredible.”
Brad Parker is projects manager for U.S. Concerts for C3 Presents. He said in an email the setting is one of the best he works with.
“I’m not sure if I know of a more perfect park for a festival like Moon River than Coolidge Park,” he said.
“Proximity to hotels, public transport and local attractions are key when selecting a festival site, and Coolidge offers all of the above. In addition to these key resources, Coolidge Park also has a secret weapon — a beautiful view of downtown Chattanooga and the Tennessee River. All of these factors come together to make Coolidge the ultimate Chattanooga experience for our out-of-town fans.”
Both Susman and Parker added that getting the community involved with things like Moon River signage on light polls and the Tennessee Aquarium changing its nighttime lighting to match that of the festival also make the festival what it is.
“The festival is a natural fit for the North Shore,” Susman said.
Parker agrees.
“Community buy-in to what we are doing with Moon River is key to its long-term success in Chattanooga,” he said. “From utilizing local vendors in the festival like Clumpies Ice Cream to making Friends of Outdoor Chattanooga one of our nonprofit beneficiaries, Moon River strives to weave itself further into the fabric of the local community rather than just be a spectacle that happens once a year. Continuing to build a long-term safe event with lasting positive impact on the Chattanooga community is our primary goal.”
Susman said another aspect of what makes it a different kind of festival is how attendees arrive.
Outdoor Chattanooga, which has offices inside the grounds under the Walnut Street Bridge, will be providing valet services for people who bicycle in.
“And, there are always people who park across the river and then walk over,” he said. “It’s part of what makes it so special. It’s a beautiful walk, and the site is pretty great.”
Of course, there is also parking on the North Shore near the site, and attendees can take one of the transportation services and get dropped off at the corner of River and Tremont streets about 50 yards from the entrance near the dead end by the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.
Once inside, attendees will find both stages are within a couple of hundred yards from each other, with the Walnut Street Bridge dividing the two. When music ends on one, it’s a simple walk to the other.
The festival was co-founded in Memphis by musician Drew Holcomb and Paul Steele and outgrew the venue there. Holcomb told the Chattanooga Times Free Press he also realized it was bigger than his marketing and planning skills and the time he wanted to allot to producing it.
He partnered with AC Entertainment, the Knoxville-based entertainment music marketing and promotions company, and they set out to find a new location. AC was purchased by Live Nation two years ago.
AC founder Ashley Capps said in 2018 that promoters looked at several cities and locations, including a couple here in Chattanooga. They liked Coolidge Park, but there was a problem: The city-owned venue had never hosted a ticketed and gated event. As the co-founders of huge events like the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, the AC folks felt confident they could make it work.
After a meeting or two with city officials, including the people at public works to discuss how they would care for not only the landscaping with things like mats to protect the grass, but also enhance the site with lighting in the trees, during and after the event, an agreement was made.
Tickets for Moon River in 2018 and 2019 sold out within two days. The pandemic canceled 2020, and 2021 took a little longer to sell out, but it did. Somewhere around 50% to 55% of the tickets sold were to out-of-towners, which was a plus to city officials because it became a way to show off the city.
Capps told the Chattanooga Times Free Press after the 2018 festival that he walked to the event from his hotel room on 10th Street each day and couldn’t believe how beautiful the city was.
“I walked about 3 miles all over downtown while I was there, and you can feel the energy,” he said at the time. “This is just one more thing that makes the city inviting.”
He’d been booking shows here since the early ’80s, and his company had contracted to book the Tivoli and Memorial Auditorium a few years earlier, but those walks allowed him to see a different part of the city.
In a letter to the editor sent to the Times Free Press after the 2018 festival, Capps wrote, “While we’ve promoted shows here since the early 1980s, we’ve found ourselves falling head over heels with your city recently, especially since taking the reins of the amazing Tivoli Theatre and the Memorial Auditorium in 2015.”
Rain is expected for both Saturday and Sunday, and Susman said there are safety plans in place should the storms be worse than predicted. He also said that city crews are on standby, as well.
“The good news is Coolidge Park drains very well,” he said.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com