Music fans could soon have a new festival in Green Bay to put on their summer calendars.
Inspired by the successful Mile of Music festival in nearby Appleton, Green Bay civic leaders are making plans to launch a similar event next year.
Mayor Jim Schmitt has proposed allocating $50,000 in city funds to help create an event that he hopes will put Titletown on the summer festival map.
A new civic organization called Strike A Chord Inc. hopes to present live musical performances at multiple venues throughout the community over a weekend, tentatively scheduled for next June.
The group, which includes veterans of Green Bay's musical scene and past local festivals, wants to showcase local performers and rekindle interest in homegrown talent.
'Green Bay has had a rich musical heritage,' said Gary Anderle, president of Strike A Chord. 'All of this has kind of been forgotten.'
Fans enjoy a performance at The Bar during the Mile of Music festival this summer in Appleton. (Photo: File/Gannett Wisconsin Media )
Anderle was previously involved in Bayfest, a popular yearly festival that ceased in 2012.
If the new event becomes a money-maker, organizers would like to dedicate the proceeds to supporting local musicians and opening a new Wisconsin Music Hall of Fame in Green Bay.
To get the new event started, Schmitt is asking the City Council to include $50,000 in the city's 2015 budget. Final council action on the budget is scheduled for Nov. 12.
Schmitt said he envisions a festival that features numerous musical styles performed at venues throughout the city - some indoors, some outdoors - with mass transit available to shuttle spectators throughout the community.
Phil Davis performs with The Emperors of Wyoming during the Mile of Music festival this summer in Appleton.(Photo: File/Gannett Wisconsin Media )
The mayor said the event would start small, but he hopes it would grow into a major cultural attraction repeated annually.
'We're not going to start out with a Summerfest,' he said, referring to Milwaukee's enormous lakefront festival. 'Every event we have here started out small.'
The Strike A Chord organization also includes Green Bay Alderman Mark Steuer, as well as Tom Neuser, Cherie Burke, Ross Maxwell and Jimmy Crimmins.
The group has been meeting for several months and has calculated that it will take about $350,000 to finance the festival. The group plans to form a nonprofit corporation and seek out donations.
Mile of Music creator Dave Willems has stepped forward and offered to help.
In just its second year, Mile of Music this summer attracted 35,000 spectators over four days and featured more than 200 performers at various venues along one of Appleton's main thoroughfares.
Willems voiced confidence that Green Bay could enjoy similar success by creating an event based on Titletown's own unique personality. Saying there is no reason to worry about competition with Mile of Music, Willems said he is willing to offer assistance.
'Obviously we've learned a lot,' he said. 'We'd be happy to talk further and share some of that.'
- swilliams@pressgazettemedia.com and follow him on Twitter @pgscottwilliams.
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Entities 0 Name: Green Bay Count: 5 1 Name: Appleton Count: 4 2 Name: Wisconsin Count: 2 3 Name: Willems Count: 2 4 Name: Schmitt Count: 2 5 Name: Ross Maxwell Count: 1 6 Name: Jim Schmitt Count: 1 7 Name: Phil Davis Count: 1 8 Name: Cherie Burke Count: 1 9 Name: Music Count: 1 10 Name: Jimmy Crimmins Count: 1 11 Name: City Council Count: 1 12 Name: Anderle Count: 1 13 Name: Chord Inc. Count: 1 14 Name: Dave Willems Count: 1 15 Name: Bayfest Count: 1 16 Name: Tom Neuser Count: 1 17 Name: The Emperors of Wyoming Count: 1 18 Name: Wisconsin Media Count: 1 19 Name: Green Bay Alderman Mark Steuer Count: 1 20 Name: Milwaukee Count: 1 21 Name: Gary Anderle Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1vomDuD Title: Where the Hills and Hollows Are Alive With Music Description: The Red Barn sits alongside Scioto Road in a narrow valley in northeastern Tennessee a few miles from the borders of North Carolina and Virginia. Most of the time, the hollows, as such valleys are known in this part of Appalachia, are quiet, but on Thursday nights for the last 30 years they have come alive with music.
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