THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408100458
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
It is billed as the largest music festival in the city's history, a mix of jazz, reggae, folk, rock and blues bands built around the talents of one hot country star and three aging pop super-groups.
It might draw enough people on Labor Day weekend to populate a small town, and planners hope it will set the stage for an annual event to rival festivals in Hampton, New Orleans and Chicago.
On Tuesday, city officials got an update on how the upcoming American Music Festival will transform the Oceanfront's annual end-of-summer bash, a party that in recent years has had its share of troubles.
The city is planning a four-day beach party Sept. 2-5 centered on music of the Beach Boys, The Four Tops, The Temptations and Billy Ray Cyrus. Five outdoor stages - including a main stage on the beach near 5th Street - will host 40 local and lesser-known national bands while vaudeville entertainment will dot the Boardwalk.
For city planners, the party is intended to fill an entertainment void after last year's powerboat race flopped before a largely indifferent public. And it is part of the city's ongoing efforts to answer critics who charged that riots in 1989 stemmed, in part, from a lack of entertainment for visitors.
``It's probably the largest music event in Virginia Beach's history,'' said Chris Casey, the director of events for Ocean Occasions, the contractor hired to organize entertainment at the Oceanfront.
``We decided to take a real leap forward and see if it would be something that people would come to, as if it were four or five years old. We just wanted to start big, skip the first year blues, and go for it.''
The city hopes the festival will be the ``bookend'' that complements the events of Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.
Ticket sales for this year's party first appeared sluggish but are picking up as the event draws near and radio and print advertising takes hold.
James B. Ricketts, director of the Department of Convention and Visitor Development, said 3,100 tickets have been sold to date, with sales now running between 80 to 100 a day.
The city hopes to sell between 15,000 and 20,000 passes for the event, he said. While sales are not close to those figures, Ricketts said experience in other cities shows that sales accelerate as the event nears.
Generally, 75 percent of all tickets for many outdoor events sell in the last 10 days before a scheduled event while half of what remains sells within the last few days, he said.
``We're looking for a minimum of 10,000 tickets sold,'' he said.
The cost for local residents will be $20 for the entire weekend. Hotels are offering three-night package deals on rooms ranging from $125 to $300 per person. An estimated 1,000 such hotel passes have been sold, Ricketts said.
Most of the entertainment is free and open to the public. Tickets are needed only for three afternoon shows on the main stage at 5th Street: the Beach Boys, Billy Ray Cyrus, and The Temptations/The Four Tops.
The city is expecting to spend $233,000 for the party, although the total cost of the event is $643,000, with the difference being made up by concessions, Ricketts said.
No estimates were available on how many people are expected to attend, but by ticket sales alone the Oceanfront population could swell by thousands.
``We're planning for a very busy holiday weekend,'' Police Chief Charles R. Wall said.
Added police officers are scheduled for walking beats, undercover operations and the marine patrol, which will ward off boaters straying too close to the 5th Street stage.
Sheriff's deputies will provide security, he said, and a contingent of officers from the Virginia State Police will assist local authorities.
Because the event precedes the start of the school year, the city is marketing the party in cities located within a day's drive of Virginia Beach. Among the cities where radio ads have been playing are Richmond, Washington, Charlottesville, Raleigh/Durham, Roanoke/Lynchburg, Cleveland, Harrisonburg, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
The city's hopes are based in part on the middle-class appeal of the groups whose music fits snugly into the middle-class tastes of the typical tourist. If record sales are any measure, the party promises hours of entertainment.
Collectively, the four groups have sold 235 million records, said Bill Reid, president of Cellar Door Productions, the company that negotiated on behalf of Ocean Occasions to produce the events.
They have 65 No. 1 hits and 183 Top 20 hits from 207 albums. Billy Ray Cyrus, a country singer with a taste for rock, has sold 12 million records alone.
``The intent here was to try and get entertainment that appeals to everyone,'' Reid said. ``There may be no group that epitomizes Virginia Beach better than the Beach Boys. I mean, the Beach Boys. Surfing. On the beach. It's a perfect match. Given that, we thought they were one of the best bands we could find.'' by CNB