The Henderson City Commission approved $25,000 funding for the W.C. Handy Festival to go towards booking a high-quality headlining act.
The vote was 4-1.
Tuesday’s funding approval was a continuation of discussions the city had with Handy Festival organizers last year about assistance for a headlining act.
Before the vote, Handy Fest committee member Steve Gold—also the county attorney—laid out the local economic benefits of the annual summer festival that brings a conservative estimate of 20,000 people to town.
Gold said festival surveys reveal that 70%-80% of those who attend the festival come from out of town, and the average total of the money each group spends in Henderson equates to $646. Gold said the economic impact of the festival is $3.7 million.
Commissioner Kelsey Hargis was the lone holdout. Hargis, who volunteers with Bluegrass in the Park and many other events, said she voted against the gift because she didn’t think it was fair for other local music festivals staffed by volunteers, among them Summerfest, Sandy Lee Watkins Songfest and BGIP.
She said that she was under the impression that grant requests needed to go through the city’s grant process, and if that’s the process, then “we need to do it across the board.”
Handy Festival music co-chair, Brian Bishop, said the donation will help book a headliner in the festival’s price range—between $40,000 and $50,000. Bishop, who co-chairs the music with Dorin Luck, said they still have a headliner and three other spots to fill in the lineup.
Bishop said there’s not yet a date for when the lineup is announced. He hopes it can be finalized and announced soon, earlier than it traditionally has been.
