City of Roses music festival moving ahead

Despite the early rumblings of trouble with the 10th annual City of Roses Music Festival, organizers say the Cape Girardeau event is on track for its late September date.

At the beginning of the year organizers worried about having enough money to put on the festival and considered a name change. But the money is there for a solid festival, and the City of Roses name will still be attached to the festival in its 10th year.

"We have so much going on it is just incredible," said City of Roses spokeswoman Mary Ramsey, who is also on the committee organizing the event, the City of Roses Music Heritage Association. "We have new ideas all the time. It's just been a great year."

Planning for the event started in January. The organizing committee this year is made up of three members -- Ramsey, Jeremiah's owner and festival director Don Ganim and Mary Ann Forester. In the past few years the committee has been in a period of transition, and all three current members are fairly new to the process.

This is Ramsey's third year of involvement on the committee, Ganim's second and Forester's first.

Ramsey said the committee members have a strong drive to see the festival continue on as it hits the decade mark.

Organizers say this year they'll continue to push the festival in the direction of a more family-friendly affair, which became a key priority while organizing last year's festival.

This year the festival will include a banner-art contest for local high schools and high school and college music ensembles. Those events and performances will be held in a special area designated specifically for family events, Ramsey said.

In another family-friendly move organizers will once again prohibit profanity and objectionable behavior by acts on outdoor stages.

"We don't want to limit what we offer," Ramsey said. "We want there to be something for everybody."

However, the City of Roses will still offer music on three outdoor stages and in the various bars downtown.

The rock music that is the festival's staple music isn't known as family music. But organizers say a balance can be obtained between rock performers and the need to attract families to the festival.

A schedule of musical acts should be finalized around Friday.

Musician Mike Renick is committed to play the festival, and he says the family-oriented approach will probably bring in people who like live music but typically don't get the chance to see it.

"I've had conversations with people who say, 'We'd really like to come and see you guys, but it was late at night or in a bar somewhere,'" Renick said. "You can't bring the kids to a bar."

But Renick's act is more tame than some of the hard rock groups that play the festival every year.

Another matter of debate over the years has been the value of a headlining act. Ramsey said this year there is the possibility of booking a headliner of some sort.

Renick said he likes the emphasis on local music the festival provides.

"Unless you're going to get a real quality band that is going to draw a lot of people and draw people from other towns, I don't think the headlining entertainment in the past has done anything for the festival," Renick said.

He likes the festival for its ability to showcase local bands -- acts that may not get many chances to play in local clubs.

Early in the year Ganim expressed concerns the festival might not be able to serve as that showcase for local bands anymore. There were questions about whether enough money would be available for the event after $7,000 out of the festival coffers was set aside to endow a scholarship at Southeast Missouri State University.

Ramsey said the money to put on the festival is available thanks to sponsorships and other fund-raising efforts, but she declined to elaborate on the nature of those sponsorships so far in advance of the festival.

However, she says those sponsorships represent a strong community commitment to keeping the festival alive and growing.

The scholarship will probably be endowed this year. Former City of Roses Music Heritage Association treasurer Doc Cain said the $10,000 needed to endow a scholarship at the university is ready to go.

Cain said this is the right time to endow the scholarship, since former committee members are now gone and new blood has taken over the organizational aspect. Cain said now the next generation can take over and start the process anew.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182