(Photo/Daniel Anderson) Until recently, fans flocked to BayFest to hear national touring acts and locals perform in a weekend of music on the streets of downtown. Now, local musicians are left with one fewer venue to showcase their talent.
By Lagniappe
BayFest’s cancellation leaves local bands scratching their heads
Since the announcement of BayFest’s demise, civic officials, citizens and LoDa business owners have been scrambling to fill the resultant void. Each year the festival brought a three-day lineup of national touring acts to the streets of downtown Mobile, providing a valuable outlet for established as well as promising local musicians, and giving them a performance outlet to expose their music to Azalea City residents as well as thousands of out-of-towners.
BayFest’s focus on local talent was best witnessed at the Café Stage. Steve Varnes of Deluxe Trio has been performing on the Café Stage for 16 years, describing it as locals-only stage and “a festival within a festival.” According to Varnes, the stage had no corporate support. If anyone could be considered a sponsor of the Café Stage, it would be the local musicians who performed there. Local artists provided all production, and just last year it finally featured an actual stage for performers.
(Photo/Daniel Anderson) Until recently, fans flocked to BayFest to hear national touring acts and locals perform in a weekend of music on the streets of downtown. Now, local musicians are left with one fewer venue to showcase their talent.
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Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
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Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.