Main Street Board talks MusicFest security
EL DORADO — Now that the headliners have been have been revealed and a new schedule announced for MusicFest 2016, organizers are releasing more details about the event — including another change that will help tighten up security measures.
That Main Street El Dorado board of directors said Tuesday there will be one entrance gate for MusicFest XXIX, which is set for Oct. 14 and 15 in the Union Square District.
Bruce Butterfield, president of MSE board, said he wanted to spread the word two months ahead of MusicFest, Main Street’s flagship fundraiser, to help educate those who plan attend the festival and allow them time to prepare for the change.
Butterfield said the festival boundaries will be revised to accommodate an entrance in the area of Main and Cleveland, or the 100 block of West Main.
“It’s an issue of security. That will allow us to better monitor people who are coming in and what they’re bringing in,” Butterfield said. “When the show’s over, we’ll make it easy for people to get out.”
He also said there will be one contact point for volunteers who collect money, providing a better means for MSE to track financial transactions during the weekend.
In recent years, Main Street decreased the number of entrance gates to two to help make the downtown festival perimeter more secure for volunteers, visitors and downtown businesses.
Butterfield said a recent visit to Riverfest in Little Rock convinced MusicFest organizers that a set-up with one entrance would work in El Dorado.
“We saw how they set theirs up. People were able to come in pretty quick, and it was secure,” Butterfield said.
Mark Givens, executive director of MSE, said organizers plan to speak with Police Chief Billy White about how to handle security at the gate.
“It’s something that should have happened a long time ago,” Givens said.
Added MSE board member Margaret Combs, “It’s a change that everyone is going to like.”
Combs also noted that the entrance meets standards for the Americans with Disabilities Act, telling the group that Main Street receives loads of inquiries about handicap accessibility for its events.
Butterfield said the city’s trolley bus should be back up and running by the time rolls around, and it can be used to ferry passengers between their parking spaces and the festival entrance.
“So, hopefully, we won’t have people walking too far,” he said.
The trolley is being refurbished in Camden.
The change in the entrance gates follows another change that was made for MusicFest 2016.
Organizers moved the festival from its traditional slot of the first full week-
end in October to allow for more flexibility in booking acts and to cut down on competition with other events, including homecoming festivities for area high schools and other festivals and events in the region.
MusicFest XXIX headliners include David Nail, Sugar Ray with Mark McGrath, Lee Ann Womack, and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. The Dallas Cowboys Tailgate Nation, featuring the Dallas Cowboys Mobile Hall of Fame will also be in town for the weekend.
The remainder of the musical line-up represents a variety of R&B, blues, rock, bluegrass, and country music.
El Dorado Chemical is the title sponsor of MusicFest.
Tickets and discount weekend passes went on sale last week.
Weekend passes will available for $40 until Oct. 13 at Murphy USA locations or online at www. musicfesteldorado.com.
Regular ticket prices are $25 per day for adults. Children 12 and under get in free with paid adult admission, Admission is free for everyone until 3 p.m. on Oct. 15.
Mayor Frank Hash asked MSE board members if they plan to hang MusicFest street banners throughout downtown this year, and they said no, citing a tight 2016 budget.
“If you get me some designs, I may be able to help out with that,” Hash said. “We need to look at Christmas too. It’s not that far down the road.”
Hash said he had also received some inquiries about outdoor movies downtown and asked if there were any plans for Main Street to resume the activity this year.
Butterfield said the group is waiting until autumn and the change in Daylight Saving Time for an earlier nightfall.
MSE presented a free, family-friendly movie downtown last fall after purchasing a new outdoor movie theater system, complete with a 16-x-9 screen, with a Downtown Revitalization Grant from the state.
Board members said they also have to figure out how to present the movies in a well-lit downtown area.
“With the lighting downtown, it’s good because it makes the downtown safe, but it’s bad when you want to show movies,” board member Paul Choate said.
In other business, Givens announced that Backwoods Art and Frame is expected to move into the commercial space at 111 N. Jefferson, which was formerly occupied by Brush and Canvas.
Brush and Canvas closed for business in July.