Historic commission discusses plans for MusicFest XXXI

News-Times
News-Times

Plans are starting to take shape for MusicFest XXXI, which is set for October in downtown El Dorado and organizers are exploring ways to grow the “festival” portion of the event, including a possible partnership with the El Dorado Historic District Commission.

MusicFest headliners will be announced at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Griffin Restaurant, 101 E. Locust.

The first planning meeting for the full organizing committee and others who would like to be involved has been scheduled for 5 p.m. July 25 at the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce, 111 W. Main.

For the second successive year, MusicFest will be a joint effort between Main Street El Dorado, which launched the festival in 1988, and the Murphy Arts District.

Last fall, the grand opening of MAD was planned in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of MusicFest, with MAD booking the headliners and MSE focusing on musical acts for the side stages and other festival activities.

This year, MAD is planning three days of concerts for Oct. 18 - 20, while other MusicFest activities will be held two blocks north of MAD on Oct. 19 and 20.

Beth Brumley, executive director of Main Street, said the group is also planning a 30th anniversary event for MusicFest.

Though 2018 marks the 31st annual festival, it also marks three decades since the festival began.

Changes

Along with the MAD partnership came several changes for Main Street and its flagship fundraiser.

Featured performances were moved from outdoor stages around Union Square to MAD facilities. Those concerts were ticketed by MAD, while Main Street offered free admission into the festival.

“Last year, we were trying to reinvent ourselves because we made money off ticket sales. We had to figure out another way to make money,” Brumley told members of the El Dorado Historic District Commission on July 12.

“We sold tickets for the larger attractions, like the zip line, laser tag and the rock (-climbing) wall. We added the Miss MusicFest pageant back last year. We even did a hamburger stand to make money,” Brumley said.

With sponsorships, volunteers and some creative thinking, Main Street was able to pull in a profit from MusicFest XXX, and Brumley said organizers are looking at ways to draw more people downtown this October.

Another past MusicFest activity that is returning this year is the 5K Walk/Run, which Main Street is hoping will appeal to area runners.

Brumley also said a different zip line has been reserved this year to accommodate teens and adults, as well as smaller children, and Main Street is working to bring at least one carnival ride to MusicFest this year.

A Dutch oven cookoff is also under consideration for MusicFest 2018.

Other changes that were instituted in 2017 to accommodate the MAD grand opening will be scrapped.

Brumley said kick-off time for MusicFest will be the traditional schedule of 5 p.m. on Friday.

Last year, the grand opening of MAD covered five days, Sept. 27 - Oct. 1, and MusicFest adopted an all-day schedule for Friday (Sept. 29) to provide daytime activities for crowds that were anticipated for the concerts at MAD.

“They expected crowds all day, but we didn’t get the crowds, so we’re going back to five o’clock on Friday. That’s what everybody was used to,” Brumley said.

Pulling from a brief period in MusicFest’s early days, the 2017 festival was expanded to three days — Sunday, Oct. 1, which was also the last day of MAD’s grand opening celebration.

Again, the crowds did not show up and the extra day strained MusicFest organizers, who kept late hours the previous two nights, so Brumley said the festival will return to its customary, two-day schedule this year.

In the early 90s, Sunday afternoon schedule was added to MusicFest in response to requests from local churches to feature gospel music.

After a couple of years, the idea fizzled out because of low attendance.

Brumley also said the boundary for MusicFest will be extended this year and downtown streets blocked off to demarcate the perimeter.

For the first time in MusicFest history, Main Street remained open in 2017 to clear a passage for shuttle services to ferry passengers to and from the festival, but the services did not pull in the traffic that was expected, Brumley said.

Food vendors, tables and chairs and other MusicFest activities and attractions that were usually set up on Main Street were moved elsewhere.

“This year, Main Street will be closed again. We tried leaving it open last year, but it was a nightmare. The food trucks will be back on Main Street, and the (festival) boundary will be from Main Street to MAD,” Brumley explained, adding, “The beer boundary will cover the entire area up to MAD.”

Admission for the festival will still be free this year.

Linda Rathbun, chairman of the historic district commission inquired about attendance for MusicFest XXX.

“It was good, but it was hard to tell because we can’t gauge it with ticket sales,” Brumley said.

Idea for a new activity

Main Street has approached the historic district commission about possibly teaming up to add a new, paid activity to the MusicFest lineup: a guided,walking tour of some of the historic buildings and sites in the Union Square District and areas just outside the festival boundaries.

“We wanted to see what y’all’s thoughts are. We know it’ll be hard to get to some of these places because the streets will blocked off,” Brumley said.

“Because it’ll be the weekend, the public buildings will be closed,” added EHDC Executive Director Elizabeth Eggleston, referring to buildings such as city hall and the Union County Courthouse.

The group bounced around ideas, with Rathbun noting that if the tours are guided, guides will be needed to provide information about each stop.

“We could possibly set up a meeting spot to kick things off and have refreshments,” Rathbun said.

“It sounds like a good idea. At key locations, people will be stationed there as people assemble,” Commissioner Doug Stanton said.

He also said the city’s trolley bus could possible used as scheduled shuttle service for tour groups.

Commissioners said the new reprinted downtown walking tour brochure could be distributed for tour groups to provide other local points of interest they could visit at their leisure.

Other business

The EHDC scheduled a special meeting for noon, July 27, to consider a Certificate of Appropriateness request for an ongoing project to convert the commercial building at 313 E. Main into a single-family residential unit.

A COA has already been approved for the project, but Eggleston said a change to design plans involving the rear of the residence will require a new COA application.

COAs are required from the EHDC for most exterior changes within the city’s commercial historic district.

Eggleston said Blake Dunn, architect for the project, was to have presented the new COA request on July 12, but the commission did not have a quorum for its regular monthly meeting, so the request was postponed.

The commission’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Aug. 9, but Eggleston said further delaying the project and “change order” would create an undue burden for the contractor of the job.

The building is owned by Dr. Steve and Michelle Smart. Dunn previously said the Smarts hoped to complete the project by the fall.

The special meeting, which is also a public hearing, will be held in the Council Chamber of City Hall.

In another link to Main Street, commissioners also discussed attending the annual Destination Downtown conference, which is set for Sept. 9 - 12 in Eureka Springs.

DD is a regional meeting for Main Street programs in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

The conference rotates between the three states each year, and this year.

The conference was held for the first and only time in El Dorado in 2009. It was also the first time in Arkansas that the conference was held outside Little Rock.

“It’s good training about the Main Street program and you learn the most from cities who are doing the same thing,” Brumley said.

Several commissioners said they were interested in attending the 2018 conference and discussed finding the funding to attend.

Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at tlyons@ eldoradonews.com.

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