Friends of the Festival announced that the highly successful Riverfront Nights series will be expanded in 2024. Riverfront Nights will span “Fourteen Saturdays of Summer,” and will provide free music on Chattanooga’s scenic riverfront on Saturday evenings from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend.
Guests will enjoy offerings from food trucks, more family activities, an expanded kids play area, activities, and music that has been attracting record-breaking crowds throughout the recently ended season.
Friends of the Festival also noted that they will be putting Chattanooga’s original music festival, Riverbend Festival, on hiatus for the upcoming 2024 season.
“Like other independently owned and operated music festivals across the nation that are going on a temporary pause, Riverbend is reevaluating and restructuring in order to be successful in the future," organizers said. “Riverbend has celebrated 40 amazing years and it will never go away; however, it’s time to go back to our roots - to music that is authentic to Chattanooga. We’re dedicated to our mission and the next time Riverbend’s gates open, audiences across all demographics will have music they can embrace and experiences they’ve come to expect.”
Riverfront Nights will kick off its 17th season with a visit to Margaritaville on Chattanooga’s riverfront on Saturday, May 25, with A1A, the official and original Jimmy Buffett Tribute Band. The expanded show will feature special activities, beach swag, and of course, “Cheeseburgers in Paradise.” The show is expected to draw such a large crowd that plans are being made to close Riverfront Parkway for the evening and expand the food, drink and activities onto the Chattanooga Green.
“This is exactly what our fans have wanted for years,” said Friends of the Festival executive director Mickey McCamish. “Free music, great food and a place where friends, families and dogs can come together over the course of the summer is exactly what our guests indicated they wanted in the surveys we recently conducted. Not only are we giving them exactly what they wanted, we’re also encouraging them to bring their chairs and blankets each Saturday evening.”
He concluded, “We couldn’t do any of this without the continued and ongoing support from so many sponsors who’ve been with us a very long time. Not only are they supportive of our plan for 2024, they are embracing it as a way to continue to grow our audience. We’re humbled by their strong unwavering support.”