Wow. Has it really been ten years? Even before I worked for the City of Albertville and coordinated Main Street Music Festival, I attended this event, loyally, for nine years. As in, I haven't missed one since it debuted in 2009! That's just part of living in Albertville, and luckily for us, now, part of living in Marshall County and the Southeast. MSMF is the largest free music festival in the Southern United States including in its activities a weekend of music from national recording artists, food, vendors, a vast variety of entertainment, including local talent, and all around family fun. This year, it celebrates its tenth year and comes to you August 2nd and 3rd!
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| Bret Michaels Band, MSMF 2017 |
In 2016, we were named a Top Twenty Event to Attend by the Southeast Tourism Society, an exciting and prestigious designation that helped the festival gain attention from outside of our region and growing its audience size by large percentages. Last year's festival, featuring Clay Walker, Drivin 'N Cryin, Tyler Farr, High Valley, and more, drew in crowds of over 40,000 for the weekend. Previous years have seen talent such as: Bret Michaels, 38 Special, Sara Evans, Riley Green, Craig Morgan, Tracy Lawrence, Gin Blossoms, Sister Hazel, Toby Keith, Blackberry Smoke, Martina McBride, and more. On May 1st, this year's much anticipated lineup will be announced live on air by "Alabama's Country Giant" WQSB, 105.1! Be sure to tune in; if you miss the live announcement, we will stream it on our Facebook page @mainstreetmusicfestival immediately following the radio broadcast.
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| MSMF Stage/Production |
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| MSMF Crowd, 2018 |
Aside from being an all around awesome event, I can't express in enough words what a huge undertaking this event is. It requires a committee of over 70 people, broken down into smaller committees such as: logistics, sponsors, vendors, entertainment, beverage, marketing, and hospitality. Those 70 plus are separate from the more than 400 necessary volunteers we recruit each year to help us pull off the weekend when it actually gets here. I never know how amazing, willing, and supportive of progression, tourism, and quality of life this community was until I started working on this event team. I'm forever amazed ever single year watching the city pull together, from police and fire personnel, to public works crews, to garbage and recycle companies, to city officials, civic groups, and a host of others I'll never be able to name, to transform our hometown into a live action concert venue for two days.
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| Drone Shot, MSMF Crowd 2016 |
We love hearing from our local restaurants, shops, business, and hotel owners what a boom they had in sales during the festival weekend!
After all, this is what this event was started for, as a means to promote all our area had to offer to out of town guests visiting our city and increase tourism dollars. It's certainly served it's purpose there as each year area hotels record guests in town from across the country attending the festival; however, to Albertville citizens, it's even more special. It's something we can be proud of and call our own. It's something to be known for and get to enjoy by families of all ages, regardless of income. We're proud of that.
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| MSMF Craig Morgan, 2017 |
Keeping MSMF free requires our team to raise over $200,000 in sponsorship funds, annually, to pay for rising costs of music artists, production, safety, security, and more. If you would like to help us continue to keep Main Street Music Festival Free, visit our website at www.mainstreetmusicfestival.com, and consider donating, or, look for our blue donation barrels across the venue at this year's MSMF. We hope to see you there!
Don't forget to tune in Wednesday, May 1st, at 7:30 AM, to "Alabama's County Giant" WQSB 105.1 to hear who will be headlining our MSMF stage this year!
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