Gretna gears up for annual July music festival

By: John Crane | GoDanRiver
Published: June 10, 2011

Gretna is getting ready for its third annual Gretna Bluegrass Festival next month and organizers hope to attract more people to the event this year.

The music festival takes place from 4 to 10 p.m. July 2 at Elba Park on Chaney Lane in Gretna. It also includes an antique car cruise-in before being capped by a fireworks display at the end of the night, said Gretna Town Treasurer Wendy Scearce.

The fireworks display is in celebration of Independence Day.

The event, held by the town of Gretna, Revitalization for a Greater Gretna and the Merchants Association of Gretna, will also have vendors selling barbecue, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza, beer and wine. Regional bands performing at the festival will include:

• Glen Shelton, Madison Heights

• Bobby Pillow & Band, Chatham

• Landon Spradlin Band, Gretna

• Johnathan Dillon, Wirtz

• Mark Templeton & Pocket Change, High Point, N.C.

The first bluegrass festival in 2009 drew a small crowd, but the following year’s event — which introduced the cruise-in — attracted at least 500 people, Scearce said.

“I’m hoping it will be more this time,” she said.

Scearce thought of the idea for a festival and has organized it every year since the Merchants Association of Gretna stopped putting on Gretna’s annual July 4 fireworks display, said Paula Wilbourne, the association’s president.

The festival brings in tourists and generates sales for the town’s businesses, Wilbourne said.

“It not only helps the local area … we also have people coming in from all over,” Wilbourne said. Wilbourne said organizers hope the event draws more attendees from farther away.

Admission to the festival is $10 per adult, $3 for children ages 6-12 and free for those under 5. Activities will also include drawings and kids will have access to playground equipment and face painting.

Proceeds fund the event, which costs from $6,000 to $7,000 to put on, Scearce said. Profits go toward town revitalization such as benches, signs, landscaping and other projects.

For more information about the music festival, call (434) 656-6572.