Mark Berg of Blues Landing speaks to Howard, Hilliard, Mims and Rookie Edwards of The Breakers after the press conference. (Shannon McFarlin photo)
By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
FroggyFest will be a part of a three-day music festival, the Tennessee River Jam, which will be held over three days at Paris Landing and several other venues in the community. The music festival will be held from June 28-30 and tickets are on sale March 1.
Other performers include American Idol performer Tristan McIntosh and local legend Johnny Mac and the Heart Attacks.
McLee estimated the economic impact on the community at $250,000 “and that’s a conservative estimate, based on one night of the festival. If they stay for all three days, that number grows.”
McLeese said it was important to keep the tickets affordable—at $25 for general admission. “We wanted a bunch of artists and wanted local artists and also wanted tickets to be affordable.” VIP tickets will cost $65.
Vendor applications are available at www.froggy103.com.
At a press conference held Monday afternoon at the Paris-Henry County Chamber of Commerce, Chamber Executive Director Travis McLeese said, “We’re thrilled to announce an established event like FroggyFest is coming to Henry County. We’ve talked about this for years and we’re thrilled to have them as partners. And we’re excited about the multitude of artists and venues that we will have.”
McLeese spoke along with Forever Communications President & COO Chris Hilliard, Executive Vice President Jared Mims and Vice President and General Manager Debbie Howard. Forever Communications is the owner/operator 18 radio stations, including the area Froggy stations and WENK/WTPR in Paris.
Hilliard said she met McLeese for the first time last summer at FroggyFest 2018 at Discovery Park of America in Union City. “Travis said to me, ‘We’d like you to consider bringing FroggyFest to Paris Landing’ and I was so into that. It really makes more sense for us and we’ve been working on this for months.”
Hilliard said all the Forever Communications stations will be promoting the festival. “We want to thank you for making us feel welcome and we’ll be doing the very best we can to make it a success—because we want to be back next year”.
Howard was the former producer of popular Hot August Blues at KenLake in Aurora, Ky., and has had experience with organizing music festivals. Howard thanked Paris “for making Froggy the station it is today. Everyone has always welcomed Froggy” at the various events in which Froggy has participated. “No matter what we’ve done here in Paris, it’s always been a huge success and I don’t see this being any different. I’m so glad Travis asked us to bring FroggyFest here because frankly, this is where it belongs.”
In addition to Forever Communications and Froggy, sponsors include Mahindra of KenTenn, Pepsi, Ellis Heating, Peppers Automotive Group, Taco John’s.
Venues which will be holding concerts include Blues Landing, The Breakers, Ace’s Restaurant, Sweet Jordan’s, LL’s Bar and Grill, Lee Academy for the Arts, and the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge.
Henry Co. Mayor Brent Greer, Paris Mayor Travis McLeese, Paris Landing State Park, West Tennessee Tourism, State Department of Tourism have all “jumped on board” and McLeese noted, “This will be a great time to invest back to the community as we rebuild the Paris Landing Inn.”
Hilliard said a big screen will be set up by the lake with the speakers turned toward the water for folks on boats. McLeese said, “That’s what I mean. These people will be making an investment in the community. They won’t make a penny off the boaters, but they’re doing that for them.”
Speaking at the meeting: Howard, Hilliard and McLeese. (McFarlin photo).
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