Overall, reaction to the new Renfrew Roots Music Festival has been mostly positive since it was unveiled two weeks ago.
That’s the word from Mayor Tom Sidney, who spoke on the matter at the March 28th Town Council meeting.
Back on March 14th, the Town revealed their plans to focus on a new two-day signature event in July that will feature a variety of musical acts and genres that either were from, or include members from, the Renfrew County area.
Clint McWhirter, the Chair of the Signature Events Working Group, would mention that he was also getting positive feedback since the reveal, especially from the younger demographic who particularly appreciated the busing to and from the event between Arnprior, Calabogie, Pembroke, and the Renfrew Visitors Centre.
Meanwhile, Sidney did acknowledge a petition that the Town received to keep the original Renfrew Bluegrass Festival in place, but noted that changes are being done to refocus the event as a driver of tourism into Renfrew.
Chief Administrative Officer Rob Tremblay notes that the Bluegrass Festival wasn’t quite what they were looking for in that regard, bringing in between 40% to 65% of it’s audience from in town.
He adds that they just able to break even last year when they hosted the event for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tremblay says that Ma-te-Way Park could be made available for the dates the Bluegrass Festival usually runs, and that any group interested in taking over can call the Parks and Recreation Department to inquire.
Councilor Andrew Dick says the door is open for the public to run with the original Bluegrass Festival format with the Town’s full support.
Reeve Peter Emon would also note that the original plan for Renfrew Bluegrass was for the town to establish it over a period of time before handing it off to a volunteer group, a plan that would ultimately stall due to the pandemic.
He suggests anyone looking to continue the Bluegrass Festival focus on building for next year, as his experience with running the event would suggest that wrangling the talent, staff, and funds would be difficult in the time remaining.
(written by Kasey Egan)
