Greetings from the RiverCity Bluegrass Festival,

Sometimes a great event needs a little re-designing to allow it to function better from programming, operational and financial standpoints. With five years under our belt, The RiverCity Bluegrass Festival is ready for some positive changes that will allow it to continue for years to come. Therefore, we’re officially announcing that we are taking 2010 as a hiatus year so that we can do the work necessary to accomplish those changes. 

The first and probably most significant is a new venue. On January 14, 15 & 16, 2011, we will be holding the Festival at the Red Lion On The River. The hotel is at Jantzen Beach, just as you cross the river into Oregon off I-5. This property offers a plethora of positives: room rates are $99.00 (standard room) & $109 (with river view). It’s beautiful and functional. It has a café and a really nice restaurant which offers a well-known Sunday brunch. The staff there is very excited to have us ‘take over’ their hotel and expects jamming in all the many locations that they have to offer. Parking is free. There are two ballrooms: one that seats 2,000 and one that seats 700 as well as a large bar, plenty of meeting rooms for workshops and space for vendors. We feel that the positives of being in one location for the Festival and your lodging will be attractive, particularly in January . If you Google Red Lion Jantzen Beach you’ll see for yourself how nice the hotel is. One other benefit is we can now use any ticketing company that we chose which will reduce convenience fees dramatically. 

If you’re ready to make your reservation, the hotel is ready. Their number is (503) 283-4466; ask for the RiverCity Festival rate. 

The second change is that we are re-titling the event as the RiverCity Music Festival: A celebration of roots, acoustic and bluegrass music. Bluegrass will always be our mainstay and is what you will see in the larger ballroom. It’s important that you know that we will continue to offer the outstanding level of national bluegrass bands that you’ve come to expect at the RiverCity Festival. Some of the highlights have included The RiverCity Dream Band, Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Rhonda Vincent, David Grisman, Nashville Bluegrass Band and the Del McCoury Band. We have some ideas for the use of the smaller ballroom, possibly a little different form of acoustic music; we have not yet made that decision. What we do know is that we have to diversify just enough to attract another group of people who may not be totally in love with traditional bluegrass. But not to worry - as John Mal loy books our talent, you can be assured that it will be our usual exciting lineup for those of you who love bluegrass music. We urge you to check out our website particularly after January 2010 to see the progress made on our lineup. The address is http://www.rivercitybluegrass.com.

The other change is that we are going non-profit. As sponsorship dollars become harder and harder to obtain, we will now be eligible for grants and donations. It’s not a panacea, but widens the possibilities for funding this event. If you have ties with any non-profits that have dedicated funds for the arts, please let us know. We’ll be attending as many festivals as we can fit into our schedule during the next 18 months, so please introduce yourself if you see Chuck or I. Look for the RiverCity van. And of course, we very much hope that you’ll join us on January 14-16, 2011. If you'd like to contact us, our email address is (info@rivercitybluegrass.com) info (at) rivercitybluegrass (dot) com.

Sincerely,
Chris & Chuck Palmer
The RiverCity Music Festival