Pamalicious
03-30-2005, 04:46 AM
City braces for big weekend of music
By ERNIE SUGGS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/30/05
On the weekend of June 10-12, Atlanta will be the center of music universe.
Top acts such as Mary J. Blige, Ludacris, John Legend and Kanye West will rock the Georgia Dome and the Georgia World Congress Center when the first Vibe MusicFest comes to downtown.
In Midtown, the likes of the White Stripes, Tom Petty and Alan Jackson are headlining the Midtown Music Festival.
Atlanta police are working on strategies to juggle both events, particularly to prevent traffic congestion.
"This is a great opportunity for us to show off the city and to build off our legacy," Mayor Shirley Franklin said Tuesday. "We are ready for the future."
Spurgeon Richardson, president of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the economic impact to the city will be "unbelievable."
He said the Vibe MusicFest is expected to attract 75,000 people daily during its three-day run. "I even listened to an Usher record the other day," Richardson said.
Vibe President Kenard Gibbs said Atlanta was chosen as this year's venue because of the city's "vibrance, rich legacy of music and diversity."
Patterned after the highly successful Essence Music Festival, held annually in New Orleans, the Vibe MusicFest also will include seminars, games for children, fashion shows, a car show and concerts.
Harold Dunovant, Atlanta police's deputy chief in charge of field operations, said planners will travel to New Orleans to talk to members of the Crescent City's police force to see how they deal with the Essence Festival. Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington formerly headed the New Orleans department.
"This is a new event, and we don't know what to expect," Dunovant said. "But we are going to contact New Orleans, which has a similar event in terms of size and type, to see what their logistical problems were to ensure that this event — public safety-wise — is a great event."
Music Midtown hopes to attract the 100,000 visitors it drew each day in 2002. The past two years, the three-day festival drew about 66,000 people a day. The festival takes place in and around the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center parking lot.
Franklin and Richardson are confident that both events can go off without problems. They point to last year when 150,000 people a day attended the Rev. T.D. Jakes' MegaFest at the World Congress Center at the same time that 200,000 people were here for Gay Pride festivities. That was twice the number expected for the two upcoming music events, and there were no major traffic problems, Richardson said.
"We had a successful plan for MegaFest on a very busy weekend," Franklin said.
Richardson agreed: "We've got a history that says we can handle this."
By ERNIE SUGGS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/30/05
On the weekend of June 10-12, Atlanta will be the center of music universe.
Top acts such as Mary J. Blige, Ludacris, John Legend and Kanye West will rock the Georgia Dome and the Georgia World Congress Center when the first Vibe MusicFest comes to downtown.
In Midtown, the likes of the White Stripes, Tom Petty and Alan Jackson are headlining the Midtown Music Festival.
Atlanta police are working on strategies to juggle both events, particularly to prevent traffic congestion.
"This is a great opportunity for us to show off the city and to build off our legacy," Mayor Shirley Franklin said Tuesday. "We are ready for the future."
Spurgeon Richardson, president of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the economic impact to the city will be "unbelievable."
He said the Vibe MusicFest is expected to attract 75,000 people daily during its three-day run. "I even listened to an Usher record the other day," Richardson said.
Vibe President Kenard Gibbs said Atlanta was chosen as this year's venue because of the city's "vibrance, rich legacy of music and diversity."
Patterned after the highly successful Essence Music Festival, held annually in New Orleans, the Vibe MusicFest also will include seminars, games for children, fashion shows, a car show and concerts.
Harold Dunovant, Atlanta police's deputy chief in charge of field operations, said planners will travel to New Orleans to talk to members of the Crescent City's police force to see how they deal with the Essence Festival. Atlanta police Chief Richard Pennington formerly headed the New Orleans department.
"This is a new event, and we don't know what to expect," Dunovant said. "But we are going to contact New Orleans, which has a similar event in terms of size and type, to see what their logistical problems were to ensure that this event — public safety-wise — is a great event."
Music Midtown hopes to attract the 100,000 visitors it drew each day in 2002. The past two years, the three-day festival drew about 66,000 people a day. The festival takes place in and around the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center parking lot.
Franklin and Richardson are confident that both events can go off without problems. They point to last year when 150,000 people a day attended the Rev. T.D. Jakes' MegaFest at the World Congress Center at the same time that 200,000 people were here for Gay Pride festivities. That was twice the number expected for the two upcoming music events, and there were no major traffic problems, Richardson said.
"We had a successful plan for MegaFest on a very busy weekend," Franklin said.
Richardson agreed: "We've got a history that says we can handle this."