Morristown hosts new 'Gig It' music festival

(WBIR- Hamblen County) Morristown is hosting ' Gig It,' a new three-day music festival Aug. 1-3.

Hamblen County Events Coordinator Jeffrey Dillard said this is an effort to bring tourism dollars to the community. He said people from all across the country have bought tickets for the event and many are staying in local hotels.

He said more than 1,000 pre-sale tickets have been sold. A single day ticket is $25, and a three-day pass is $65. This means at least $25,000 worth of tickets have been sold. Dillard said they are expecting a large walk-up crowd, and the money is used to fund other events in the county.

The festival will feature 32 bands. According to the 'Gig It' Facebook page, the event 'supports music of all types and fashions.'

Lisa Rose was the first person in line to get into the festival. She said she will be at the festival for all three days to see some of her favorite bands.

'I really hope that they have a great turnout,' she said. 'I hope it's something that really catches on where they can get a lot more bands interested and a lot more people interested.'

Local businesses in the community are also benefiting from the festival as well. The North Hamblen County Volunteer Fire Department set up a concession stand as a fundraiser.

'I think it helps the community a lot,' said Tony Trent, chief of the North Hamblen County Volunteer Fire Department.'[It] brings in a lot of people so in turn brings in a lot of tax dollars and more business to the businesses in the community.'

This is the first year for the festival, but the Dillard said they would like to see it continue and grow in the future.

'Obviously we're not trying to go after Bonnaroo but definitely want to give it a good run for its money,' Dillard said. 'We're a small town. And, it's something that we feel like we can offer a friendly service to everybody, and they'll want to come back and keep doing it.'

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Entities 0 Name: Dillard Count: 3 1 Name: North Hamblen County Volunteer Fire Department Count: 2 2 Name: WBIR Count: 1 3 Name: Tony Trent Count: 1 4 Name: Hamblen County Events Count: 1 5 Name: Lisa Rose Count: 1 6 Name: Bonnaroo Count: 1 7 Name: Morristown Count: 1 8 Name: Hamblen County Count: 1 9 Name: Jeffrey Dillard Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1kbSIXb Title: An internet of bins: Networking Splendour in the Grass | ZDNet Description: Summary: Building a large temporary network in the middle of a remote field for a music festival presents some unique challenges to the Splendour in the Grass organisers. Bringing Eftpos services, internet connectivity, and broadcast capability to support 30,000 people a day in a field with no power or internet represents a unique challenge to Splendour in the Grass organisers.