Event planners, sponsors and festival goers all agreed that the Old Main Music Festival held downtown Saturday was a success.
With three top musical acts and no rain, the festival went exactly as planned, bringing in close to 4,500 students, Starkville residents and visitors.
The city recouped most of the $50,000 put up by the Convention and Visitors Bureau from $10 ticket sales.
Travis Wolfe, co-director of external events for Mississippi State’s Student Association, said the number of attendees and the atmosphere was even better than what he expected.
“The people that were there were obviously enjoying every minute of it,” Wolfe said. “And there was a wide range of people there, from an older crowd to little kids, and that’s what made it better for me, I think.”
Senior sociology major Lacey McDonald, who was particularly impressed with Nickel Creek’s performance, said she thought the festival was “awesome.”
“I feel so fortunate that Mississippi State has something like the music festival because so many students at other places don’t get those opportunities,” McDonald said. “It was definitely a success. They need to have something like that every semester instead of just in the spring.”
Graduate student Mark Woods compared the festival to a scaled-down version of JazzFest or Jubilee Jam and said he wished there was a festival in Starkville every weekend. He also said he felt privileged to get to see Moe play.
“They’re a really big band up in the New York area, and up there you wouldn’t have the opportunity to get as close as you could here,” Woods said.
Wolfe said he has received no negative feedback about the festival so far, and he was not aware of any arrests or vandalism that occurred in connection with the festival.
“People just came out and had a good time and didn’t cause any trouble,” Wolfe said.
Arma de la Cruz, vice president of tourism for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, said she, too, thought the festival was successful.
“Travis and his group of volunteers from the SA did a phenomenal job and we were pleased with the way everything turned out,” de la Cruz said. “We will definitely earmark a certain amount of money so we can hold this as an annual event. It was huge and it can only continue to grow.”
Although she did not have specific numbers, de la Cruz said the festival, in connection with the Cotton District Arts Festival held Saturday morning, had a positive impact on tourism in Starkville.
“That is just further reason for the CVB to continue its partnership with the SA,” de la Cruz said.
Wolfe said even though he will not be around next year to head another music festival, he will do everything he can to assist the SA in staging another great event. He also said the festival is indicative of the changing Starkville community.
“What I was able to see Saturday was people of all ages having a good time in a great area of town,” Wolfe said. “And that’s what it’s all about. I think that’s what the new landscape and direction and theme of Starkville is growing into, and that’s a town that students and the rest of the community can enjoy together.”