
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 3, 1995                   TAG: 9503030090
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-12   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

RADFORD SEPTEMBERFEST SCALED BACK

This year, Septemberfest will return to its roots as a street festival and jazz concert, Main Street Radford President Fred Heilich told City Council this week. The downtown development group, which sponsors the annual event, had been poised to mount a festival "similar in scope and quality to last year's," when several thousand people showed up in Bisset Park for a free country music concert by Hal Ketchum.

In a Feb. 22 letter to the mayor and council, Heilich requested $12,000 from the city "to continue the precedent set last year."

But the Main Street board decided otherwise Monday, and Heilich instead asked the city to kick in $5,000 for a plain vanilla version of Septemberfest with no big-name entertainment.

"It's going to be scaled back this year to what it was in previous years," he said.

Septemberfest, to be held Sept. 8 and 9, will focus on a Friday evening jazz concert in the West End and a two-day street festival in the East End.

Council deferred action on the request until Heilich explains how the money will be spent. The issue will resurface March 13.

Last year's expanded Septemberfest cost Main Street more than $30,000 - $10,000 of that from the city - and countless hours of planning and organizing. Heilich said the event broke even. In the past, Main Street has gotten business, corporate and private donations, plus a contribution from Radford University to subsidize Septemberfest, Heilich said. Similar fund-raising efforts will continue this year.

Main Street had hoped to repeat a major festival this year to keep up the momentum between last year's event and a "world-class," citywide festival suggested by the ad-hoc Commission on Festivals and Celebrations. Council formally received the commission's report Monday.

The commission has asked the city to appoint a permanent board with a permanent budget to oversee and organize a major annual community celebration similar to Roanoke's Festival in the Park or Abingdon's Highland Festival. The panel suggested using the city's heritage as a backdrop for the event.

by CNB