Billboard’s Top 50 Festivals of 2022, Ranked
Cincinnati Music Festival Returns This Weekend. What To Know About 3-day Event
SECTION OF WLWT. ALL RIGHT, I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU SOME THINGS. TELL ME IF YOU LIKE HIM. YOU LIKE FUN? YEAH. MUSIC? OF COURSE. GOOD FOOD. ABSOLUTELY. BOOM. WHY NOT GO DOWN TO THE BANKS THIS WEEKEND? IT'S GOING TO BE A BLAST. I WILL BE DOWN THERE. AND SO THOUSANDS OF OTHERS GETTING READY FOR THE ANNUAL MUSIC FESTIVAL AND MUCH MORE. WLWT NEWS FIVE'S CURTIS COURTIS WOULDN'T MISS A CHANCE FOR FOOD, MUSIC, AND FUN, RIGHT? HE JOINS US LIVE NOW. AND CURTIS, HAVE YOU HAD ANY OF THOSE THREE THINGS RIGHT NOW? NO. WELL, I'VE HAD FUN. I'VE HEARD A LITTLE BIT OF MUSIC AND THERE'S STILL SETTING UP THE FOOD. YOU SEE THE THE VENDORS ARE OUT HERE SETTING UP. THAT'S WHAT THEY'VE BEEN DOING. THERE WILL BE MORE THAN 100 VENDORS OUT HERE. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE GOING TO GET A JUMP START TONIGHT WITH A LITTLE HIP HOP DOWN AT THE BRADY MUSIC VENUE. AND THEN OF COURSE, THEN WE'RE GOING TO SEND FOLKS OVER TO PAYCOR STADIUM AS IT ROCKS. FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, I'M REALLY HONORED. I REALLY AND I REALLY MEAN THAT. I'M HONORED WHEN I HEAR PEOPLE COMING IN HERE SAYING, I CAME WITH MY PARENTS WHEN I WAS 12 YEARS OLD OR I'VE BEEN COMING TO THIS FESTIVAL FOR 45 YEARS. THE SANTANGELO FAMILY HAS GUIDED THIS FESTIVAL FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS. JOE IS THE LONGTIME CONDUCTOR AND HAS REMINDERS OF THE HISTORY ALL AROUND HIM. BUT HE SAYS THE PARTNERSHIPS HE HAS DEVELOPED OVER THE YEARS HAVE REALLY HELPED SUSTAIN THIS EVENT. WE'RE VERY BLESSED TO HAVE A PARTNER. THIS IS THEIR 10TH YEAR. I'M VERY FORTUNATE TO BE PARTNERS WITH THE BENGALS. I DON'T KNOW IF I'D BE SITTING HERE TODAY IF I WASN'T THE MUSIC FESTIVAL HAS ALSO HIT THE RIGHT NOTE OUTSIDE THE STADIUM. FESTIVAL 513 HAS PROVIDED A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FOR VENDORS. THIS YEAR THERE WILL BE ABOUT 120 RONNIE BLACK HELPED START THE FOOD AND MERCHANDISE EVENT. HE REMEMBERS WHEN THE MUSIC STOPPED. FESTIVAL GOERS HAD VERY FEW OPTIONS. WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR OVER 30 YEARS. YEAH, AND AND IT'S GROWN. IT'S GROWN STARTED UP IN TOWN ON FIFTH STREET IN FRONT OF FOUNTAIN SQUARE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE REGIONAL BLACK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. OTHER EVENTS INCLUDE A CONCERT AT THE ANDREW BRADY CENTER AND A CELEBRATION OVER AT THE BLACK MUSIC WALK OF FAME, HELPING CINCINNATI SHINE. WE HAD OUR OUR, UH HOSPITALITY MEETING ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO, AND I SAT IN A ROOM AND THERE MUST HAVE BEEN 60 PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM. AND I SAID, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE SAY TO ME A LOT ABOUT MY EVENT, AND I SAID, IT WOULD BE MY EVENT IF I WAS THE ONLY PERSON IN THIS ROOM. WELL, JOE SANTANGELO DOES A GREAT JOB, BUT I'M LOOKING AT THAT FOOD RIGHT NOW. SEAFOOD PLATTER, FRIED SHRIMP. OH, THIS IS GOING TO BE A GREAT WEEKEND I LOVE IT. HEY, YOU KNOW, THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THIS FESTIVAL WELL OVER $100 MILLION. DID YOU HEAR ME OVER $100 MILLION. AND THEN ADD TO THAT, WE'VE ALREADY HEARD THE MUSIC DOWN AT GREAT AMERICAN BALLPARK, RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF THE FOO FIGHTERS ARE DOWN THERE. WHAT A WEEKEND, HUH? REPORTING LIVE. I'M CURTIS COURTIS, WL
Cincinnati Music Festival returns this weekend. What to know about 3-day event
Updated: 5:52 PM EDT Jul 25, 2024
The Cincinnati Music Festival has arrived for another year and an exciting lineup of performers is set to take the stage.CMF 2024 opens on Thursday, July 25 at the Andrew J. Brady Center with a special tribute to hip-hop before moving to Paycor Stadium for shows on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27.Below is everything you need to know about this year's Cincinnati Music Festival, from who's performing, how to buy tickets and where you can park.PERFORMERSThe Cincinnati Music Festival begins Thursday and will be headlined by MC Lyte, EPMD, KRS-ONE and Black Sheep.Friday's show will feature Maxwell, Ne-Yo, Fantasia, October London and Lakeside.Performers on Saturday will include New Edition featuring Bobby Brown, KEM, Coco Jones, En Vogue and Stokley.A full schedule has not yet been released by organizers, but will be posted here when it becomes finalized.HOW TO BUY TICKETSOrganizers of the Cincinnati Music Festival said tickets remain available for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.Thursday's concert will be held at the Andrew J. Brady Music Center on Race Street, while Friday and Saturday's shows will be at Paycor Stadium, the home of the Cincinnati Bengals.Tickets available for Thursday night start at $99, while Friday and Saturday tickets will start at $32, according to Ticketmaster.For more information on how you can buy tickets, visit the Cincinnati Music Festival website here.Tickets are now on sale through the festival's front office (513-924-0900) and online via Ticketmaster.WHERE CAN I PARK?Parking will be available at several different locations for people attending the Cincinnati Music Festival through the weekend.The CMF website released a map and a list of available parking locations from Thursday through Saturday. See the locations below:Duke Energy Center Garage 1: 605 Plum Street, Cincinnati, OHDuke Energy Center Garage 2: 609 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OHFountain Square Garage: 520 Vine Street, Cincinnati, OHEnquirer Building Parking Garage: 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati, OH3rd and Race Street Lot: Corner of 3rd Street and Race Street, Cincinnati, OHScripps Center Garage: 312 Walnut Street, Cincinnati, OH3rd and Main Lot: 120 E 3rd Street, Cincinnati, OHQueen City Square Parking Garage: 319-331 E. 4th Street, Cincinnati, OHWestern and Southern Garage: 310 Broadway Street, Cincinnati, OHBroadway Lot: 295 Broadway Street, Cincinnati, OHEast Garage: 443 E. Pete Rose Way, Cincinnati, OHLongworth Hall Lot: 700 W. Pete Rose Way, Cincinnati, OHSouth Lot: 131 Madison Street, Newport, KYPrices will vary to park from lot to lot though organizers said attendees should expect to pay around $20 to $30 per day.Organizers said all lots surrounding Paycor Stadium will have accessible parking available for those who need it. WEATHER The Cincinnati Music Festival will enjoy great conditions on Friday and Saturday, with sunshine and low humidity. Friday's high will be around 85, and Saturday's will be around 87. The chance for scattered downpours returns by Sunday.
CINCINNATI —The Cincinnati Music Festival has arrived for another year and an exciting lineup of performers is set to take the stage.
CMF 2024 opens on Thursday, July 25 at the Andrew J. Brady Center with a special tribute to hip-hop before moving to Paycor Stadium for shows on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27.
Below is everything you need to know about this year's Cincinnati Music Festival, from who's performing, how to buy tickets and where you can park.
PERFORMERSThe Cincinnati Music Festival begins Thursday and will be headlined by MC Lyte, EPMD, KRS-ONE and Black Sheep.
Friday's show will feature Maxwell, Ne-Yo, Fantasia, October London and Lakeside.
Performers on Saturday will include New Edition featuring Bobby Brown, KEM, Coco Jones, En Vogue and Stokley.
A full schedule has not yet been released by organizers, but will be posted here when it becomes finalized.
HOW TO BUY TICKETSOrganizers of the Cincinnati Music Festival said tickets remain available for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Thursday's concert will be held at the Andrew J. Brady Music Center on Race Street, while Friday and Saturday's shows will be at Paycor Stadium, the home of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Tickets available for Thursday night start at $99, while Friday and Saturday tickets will start at $32, according to Ticketmaster.
For more information on how you can buy tickets, visit the Cincinnati Music Festival website here.
Tickets are now on sale through the festival's front office (513-924-0900) and online via Ticketmaster.
WHERE CAN I PARK?Parking will be available at several different locations for people attending the Cincinnati Music Festival through the weekend.
The CMF website released a map and a list of available parking locations from Thursday through Saturday. See the locations below:
Prices will vary to park from lot to lot though organizers said attendees should expect to pay around $20 to $30 per day.
This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Cincinnati Music Festival
Organizers said all lots surrounding Paycor Stadium will have accessible parking available for those who need it.
WEATHERThe Cincinnati Music Festival will enjoy great conditions on Friday and Saturday, with sunshine and low humidity. Friday's high will be around 85, and Saturday's will be around 87. The chance for scattered downpours returns by Sunday.
This content is imported from Twitter. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
What To Know About Cincinnati Music Festival 2024, Feat. New Edition, Maxwell And More
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Country Festival Fatigue? Promoters And Bands Take Stock After Some Fests Go Belly Up
A Hanson-branded beer. A barbecue-and-country combination in the heart of food-crazed Chicago. Wade Bowen and Micky and the Motorcars in headlining spots. These are three selling points some organizers of country and roots-music festivals are pointing to this summer to showcase their events as the market flirts with saturation across the country.
In late May — before the high-profile cancellation of the Black Keys' arena tour put ambitious booking and high ticket prices under scrutiny across the industry — a pair of major country-music festivals in California were called off. The Cork & Jug Jam in Paso Robles, set for Memorial Day weekend with Midland and Tanya Tucker atop the bill, announced an abrupt cancellation with less than a week's notice. Days later, organizers canceled October's Rebels & Renegades festival in Monterey, the same event where Shooter Jennings recorded his Warren Zevon tribute in 2022, before even announcing a lineup.
"After careful consideration and an honest look at the festival market we announce that Good Vibez will not host the Rebels & Renegades Music Festival in 2024," organizers said in a statement. "After giving it our all for the past two years, we are having to take a step back and reassess how and where we can grow the Rebel brand."
It is too soon to draw a sweeping conclusion from just two cancellations — even ones geographically close together — that the post-pandemic festival boom is going bust. The biggest country fest of them all, April's Stagecoach in Indio, California, was a success by every measure. And brand new festivals continue to pop up. Turnpike Troubadours, Ryan Bingham, and Muscadine Bloodline headlined May's inaugural Spring Revelry in Indianola, Iowa, while the Giddy Up Fest, set for October in Las Vegas will debut with headliners Turnpike, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Chase Rice.
Still, the cooling of the demand for live music compared to 2021-23 and the growing resistance to high ticket prices is reason enough to concern organizers.
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But some promoters of long-running festivals tethered to communities both rural and urban see this summer as an opportunity to re-establish their events as top draws. Ed Warm, a partner at Joe's Live in Chicago — which will host the Windy City Smokeout at a sprawling expanse in the United Center parking lots from July 11 through 14 — says the path forward is in the curation of entire lineups, beyond simply booking the headliner-of-the-moment.
"It's an interesting time for the festival landscape," Warm tells Rolling Stone. "We might be seeing a market correction, but I don't believe the bubble is bursting. Festivals are still incredibly popular, but there's a shift towards more curated, high-quality experiences. Attendees are looking for unique, memorable events that offer more than just music. They want a complete experience."
The Smokeout has a capacity for 20,000 each day, and fresh off its 10th anniversary event in 2023, is expecting a successful four-day run this year, according to Warm. Headliners Thomas Rhett, Parker McCollum, Cody Johnson, and Carrie Underwood are supplemented on the bill this year by red-hot artists such as Wyatt Flores, Red Clay Strays, and 49 Winchester. Warm says ticket sales are off from their 2023 pace, but that is part of a larger trend of fans waiting until shortly before an event to commit. "We have seen this over the last year for club shows as well, and the trend has continued with the festival," he says. "This has required extra patience this year and will inform planning for 2025 more than anything."
It's also a multi-faceted festival, with barbecue stands lining the edge of the grounds and pitmasters from around the country. "While the music is the driving force behind the festival," Warm says, "the barbecue is a huge draw too."
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The same is true of Kansas City's Boulevardia, which was held this past Friday and Saturday. Taking place adjacent to the Crown Center downtown, its daily capacity is similar to that of the Smokeout in Chicago. Boulevardia takes its name from Kansas City's renowned Boulevard Brewery and showcases Missouri-centric musicians and vendors. The lineup across five stages is eclectic, but country draws this week included Paul Cauthen and regional staples Ha Ha Tonka. In 2023, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit headlined Boulevardia; Thundercat and Hanson anchored this year.
"We started Boulevardia nine years ago wanting to be more than a beer festival or a music festival," says festival director Keli O'Neill Wenzel. "I say it's neither. We have toed the line, and now I would say it's a celebration of a lot of Kansas City. We have over 52 local makers here, and probably the biggest showcase of Kansas City local music that you'll ever see over two days."
Hanson may be best known from its 1990s boy-band era, but it now tours as a seasoned rock group with heavy folk influences. The Hanson brothers originated in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a four-hour drive from Kansas City. They started Hanson Brothers Beer Company in Tulsa, and the brewery is launching Pink Moonlight, a special hazy IPA with peach, at Boulevardia.
"Hanson's name has been brought up for years," Wenzel tells Rolling Stone. "Boulevard knew that they had a brewery down in Oklahoma, so their name kept popping up. It would get the loudest excitement around our table when you'd bring that name up, but we could never make it happen. This year, the stars aligned."
In the Mountain West, the stars have been aligning for the Braun Brothers Reunion since 1979. What began as an afternoon party in Stanley, Idaho, is now a three-day event on the outskirts of Challis, a town of roughly 1,000 nestled in the Sawtooth Mountains, a four-hour drive from Boise. Currently run and headlined by sibling bands Reckless Kelly and Micky and the Motorcars, BBR has been one of the premier showcases for independent country music outside of Texas for the better part of four decades. Artists such as McCollum, Turnpike Troubadours, Randy Rogers, the Wilder Blue, and Old 97's have joined Reckless and the Motorcars on the festival stages. But a proliferation of festivals in the region has turned BBR from the only game in town to one of many events grasping for an ever-fractured market.
This year, BBR will run August 8 through 10, and Wade Bowen is joining the Motorcars and Reckless as headliners. Steve Earle is also on the bill, with Reckless as the backing band. Texas mainstays Cody Canada and the Departed, Josh Abbott, and Bri Bagwell are also booked, as is the Dos Borrachos duo of Kevin Fowler and Roger Creager. It's a stellar lineup, but one that Cody Braun no longer takes for granted when he's putting together BBR.
"Booking has been pretty challenging, mainly because all the bands have been booked up by the bigger festivals," says Reckless co-founder Cody Braun, who runs BBR with his brothers Willy — Reckless frontman — plus Micky and Gary Braun of the Motorcars. "It's been especially tough for us with headliners, because their booking agents will hold out.
"It's unique for me, being in Reckless but also booking the festival," he continues. "When Reckless books a gig six or eight months out, it's gotta be a pretty good-paying gig to lock it in that early. But it's hard for us as a festival to lock in those big anchor paydays with this competition."
The season for festivals in Idaho, by necessity, is compressed to the summer months. In 2023, there were eight other fests in Idaho showcasing the same country, Americana, or folk genres that BBR does, including the Highway 30 Fest in June in Filer. This year, Shane Smith and the Saints have added a small-scale festival, Saints Weekend in the Sawtooths, down the road from Challis in Stanley, less than a month before BBR. Throw in the massive Under the Big Sky Festival in Whitefish, Montana, and the Fairwell Festival in central Oregon — both of which dwarf BBR's modest capacity of around 4,000 fans — and there are more prime spots and corporate dollars to go to bands than BBR can offer.
"It's a double-edged sword for me," Cody Braun tells Rolling Stone. I'm thrilled that this music that we'd all been trying to sell for 20 or 30 years has now finally become popular, and the people are enjoying it and it's selling on a massive level. But, for a small festival like ours, it's become really challenging to keep the doors open, because a lot of the people in smaller markets like this get drawn to the shiny new penny — you know, the big festivals."
Braun says numbers for the Reunion were down 45 percent last year, but that ticket sales are up from that this year. Still, he says, it's nothing like where sales usually were.
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"We're definitely seeing the effects of oversaturation in these markets," he says. "Our festival is especially tough because it's small. We only need three thousand people a day to make it successful, but that means every person counts. Every single ticket is a really big one."
Josh Crutchmer is a journalist and author whose third book, Red Dirt Unplugged, is set for release on December 13, 2024, via Back Lounge Publishing.
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