Riverbend Festival
The Riverbend Festival, also called Riverbend, is a well-known annual music festival in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which was started in June 1982 as a five night festival. Over the years, the festival grew into the nine nights of its current run and presently ranks in the top 10% of all American festivals.[1] Additionally, Riverbend has won several national awards from the International Festivals and Events Association, including 8 in 2007. [2] The attendance for Riverbend has grown over the years and there are now regularly over 650,000 people that come over the course of the festival from all over Tennessee, the Southeast, the United States, and other countries. Individual nights can see some 80,000 people in attendance.[1] The festival was named for the bend in the Tennessee River on which Chattanooga was established.
More than a hundred acts, both well-known and new, converge each year to perform various kinds of music, including classic rock, country, urban, and bluegrass, as well as jam bands, on multiple stages set alongside the Tennessee River. Headline performers are featured nightly on the Coca-Cola Stage, a barge which has been converted into a full-size concert stage. The barge floats just off the shore against a large collection of amphitheater seats built into a hillside at the water's edge. Major local and national companies, such as Covista Communications, Unum, and Budweiser, sponsor other stages throughout the riverfront area.
Admission is given to people with special scannable wristbands, which can be purchased in southeast Tennessee and north Georgia in the weeks leading up to the festival for a discounted price or purchased at the gate for a regular price.[3] Admission was previously given to people who had collectible Riverbend Pins.[4] A wristband provides admission for either one night or every night of the festival except for the Bessie Smith Strut. Concessions are purchased using a token system and many street vendors set up food and souvenir stands.
Contents
2014 Headliners
- Friday, June 6- Gary Allan
- Saturday, June 7- Widespread Panic
- Sunday, June 8- Buddy Guy
- Monday, June 9- The Bessie Smith Strut (blues/jazz along M.L. King Blvd downtown)
- Tuesday, June 10- TobyMac
- Wednesday, June 11- Boston
- Thursday, June 12- Justin Moore
- Friday, June 13- Joan Jett
- Saturday, June 14- Young the Giant
Notable past performers
2013
- Jake Owen
- CeeLo
- Brandy
- Newsboys
- Dierks Bentley
- Drake White/Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Hot Chelle Rae/Gavin DeGraw
- O.A.R.
2012
- Eric Church
- Foreigner
- The Happy Together Tour
- Chris Tomlin
- The Band Perry
- Charlie Wilson
- Goo Goo Dolls
- Lauren Alaina
2011
- Huey Lewis & the News
- The Beach Boys
- The Machine with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra
- Casting Crowns
- Miranda Lambert
- Brian McKnight
- Alan Jackson
- Kellie Pickler
2010
- Sheryl Crow
- Alison Krauss & Union Station
- The Waybacks, John Cowan, and Joan Osborne
- Third Day
- Darius Rucker
- George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic
- Billy Currington
- Charlie Daniels Band
2009
- Willie Nelson
- Train
- Three Dog Night
- Steven Curtis Chapman
- Commodores
- The B-52's
- Montgomery Gentry
- Little Richard
2008
- ZZ Top
- The Black Crowes
- MercyMe
- Little Big Town
- Rodney Atkins
- Josh Turner
- Bachman-Cummings Band
- Anthony Hamilton
- Mark Farner (of Grand Funk Railroad)
- The Ohio Players
- America
2007
- The Alan Parsons Project
- The Avett Brothers
- Blake Shelton
- Craig Morgan
- Daughtry
- Earth, Wind & Fire
- Jars of Clay
- moe.
- Ricky Skaggs
- Steve Miller Band
- Vince Gill
- Col. Bruce Hampton & The Quark Alliance
- 2007 also debuted Riverbend's first ever classical recital featuring pianist Ning An.
2006
- The Allman Brothers Band
- Kenny Rogers
- Los Lonely Boys
- Angie Stone
- Hank Williams, Jr.
- Sugarland
- Trisha Yearwood
- Audio Adrenaline
- The Derek Trucks Band
- Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay (of The Grateful Dead)
- The Dempseys
2005
2004
- LL Cool J
- Keith Urban
- Michelle Branch
- Michael W. Smith
- Styx
- Hayseed Dixie
- Randy Newman
- Little Big Town
2003
2002
2001
Official site
Other sites
References