Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion GratitudeThe Festival Celebrates 15 Years of SuccessSeptember 21, 2015 (Bristol, Tenn./Va.) – Looking out on State Street early Monday morning one would never suspect that the three days prior a major music festival, packed with tens of thousands of people, had just taken place. Sunday night as the final notes played on the Cumberland Street Stage crews began dismantling nearly 8,000 feet of fencing, outdoor stages, ticket gates, and tents just before city workers came through—armed with leaf blowers—and swept the streets clear of debris. “What an amazing weekend,” said Leah Ross, Executive Director of the Birthplace of Country Music (BCM), the parent organization of Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion. “A big thank you to our staff, to our volunteers and sponsors, our visitors and our whole community for lifting us up and working so tirelessly to make our fifteenth anniversary such a great success. With around 130 artists scheduled over the course of the 3-day festival, organizers are pleased with the turnout at the gates. The Birthplace of Country Music Museum, located just outside festival gates, also saw a lot of traffic over the course of the weekend. “We don’t have final numbers at this time but we feel confident that attendance is where we expected it to be,” continued Ross. Very soon BCM will get a good picture of the economic impact that Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion has on the northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia region. The organization has contracted with Destination Services, the same firm that has provided economic impact studies for Barter Theatre, to conduct an economic impact study for this year’s festival. In addition, students and faculty from East Tennessee State University’s Department of Mass Communications were also on the ground during Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion this past weekend conducting a qualitative marketing survey, which will provide valuable feedback from festival attendees on a number of areas. It will take several weeks for each of the studies to be completed. Plans for the 16th annual Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion have already begun. The event is always the third weekend of September, falling on September 16-18 in 2016. For more information about Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, please visit www.BristolRhythm.com. About Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion is a 3-day music experience bursting with creative passion, electricity, and soul. Every third weekend in September, several blocks of State Street in Historic Downtown Bristol, Tennessee/Virginia are amped to the beat of Appalachia’s past, present, and future. A celebration of the twin cities’ heritage as the birthplace of country music, Bristol Rhythm features the very best in roots music talent from the region and beyond. www.BristolRhythm.com. |
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