The setup work has been done, and now it's time to party.
Workers were busy up and down Riverfront Parkway Tuesday readying the 21st Century Waterfront for the start of the 2019 Riverbend Festival. It all gets underway Wednesday at 6 p.m. with local country performers Rosewood Grips on the Chevy Stage.
Rock band Weezer is Wednesday's headliner on the main Coca-Cola Stage. Also performing will be Larkin Poe and Jimmie Allen on the Bud Light Stage, The Bohannons and Rubiks Groove on the TVFCU Stage and the Stephen Busie Band on the Chevy Stage.
On Tuesday, workers were installing the new lighting system that will pulsate along with the music along Riverfront Parkway, and a large Ferris wheel at the corner of Power Alley and Riverfront Parkway. It's the same Ferris wheel that operates at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, in June.
View Our Coverage of Riverbend 2018
"Also, if it looks like the Coke Stage is larger than in the past, it is not," said marketing director Amy Morrow, "but the speaker columns are much thinner, so the stage area looks larger or airier."
Tickets for the festival are now $115 and available at the gates, located on each end of Riverfront Parkway, at the top of the stairs leading to Riverfront Parkway from the Hunter Museum of American Art, Power Alley and Chestnut Street and Aquarium Way.
And, don't forget that Riverbend now is using wristbands for entry that are outfitted with a radio frequency identification chip. This will be used for making purchases. You can register yours online at https://riverbendfestival.com/about-admission/ and either preload it using your debit card or you can attach your credit card to it.
If you have tokens from previous Riverbends, you can trade at the festival site. Morrow suggests loading those first and spending the dollar value as the tokens are non-redeemable.
You can also use cash, credit or debit to load the RFID chip at the site. Any unused portion can be redeemed at the site or at the Friends of the Festival offices on Manufacturers Road until June 6.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.