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» The music festival that takes place this weekend throughout downtown Saratoga Springs is fittingly called “Final Stretch.”
It takes place on the last Saturday of the racing meet at Saratoga Race Track and is the final attempt to bring people downtown to party while the horsey- set is still in town.
“Final Stretch” will be located at four sites downtown and will feature a different type of musical entertainment at each site. The hours of the free event are 7 p. m. to 11 p. m., so it offers the audience plenty of time to enjoy each performance.
It also encourages the public to move about downtown to hear the various musical presentations. “Final Stretch” which closes the season, and “Hats Off,” a similar music festival which opens the season, were originally created to stimulate pedestrian traffic downtown Saratoga.
Though enormously popular, both events have seen shrinkage in the time period of the event. “Final Stretch” was originally a two evening affair with eight groups performing each night. Today it is one night with only four performances.
“Final Stretch” is presented by the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce. Chamber President Todd Shimkus says there is a legitimate reason for fewer performances. It seems success is the culprit.
Shimkus starts by pointing out what might be unimaginable today. “Both events have been around for almost 30 years. The original intent was to bring people downtown to stimulate the slow weekends.” He’s happy to point out there are no longer any slow weekends.
However, he is firm in claiming there is little diminishment in fun. He feels that “Final Stretch“was meant to be an economic stimulant asmuch as it was a popular event. He says that because the event was so popular, local businesses started to add their own entertainment to attract crowds and keep people at their establishments. What started as a small event became a large community party.
Shimkus admits that this success and a crunch of funding did affect their entertainment budget, as did increased expenses for talent and equipment. But he says funding from the private sector is still healthy. He points to a number of local businesses, like Druthers who is this year’s prime sponsor, as being community- oriented and supportive of the concept of free music downtown.
Shimkus has the attitude that the talent presented by the Chamber gives “Final Stretch” a sense of cohesion. The musicians selected are chosen based on talent and picked as to what they contribute to the whole. This year there is a solo performer who ranges from pop to country, an acoustic chorus, a band that specializes in the blues and R& B, and there is a saxophone soloist who not only covers pop songs, but is heavily influenced by jazz. “Something for everyone,” he says.
The four performing groups and their location are:
Alan Darcy on sax, performing jazz and pop vocals will be at Ben and Jerry’s.
Fenimore Blues, a blues band will appear on a stage under a tent on Caroline Street. Expect some rock and R& B as well as blues.
Jeff Bresbin, a soloist with a wide range of musical influences plays in front of Adirondack Trust
Saratoga Soundtrack, an acoustic chorus performs by the Adelphi Hotel.
Performances are from 7 to 11 p. m. All are outdoors and free to the public.