The city of Fort Thomas and
its very own Renaissance Board will have special reason to celebrate this
September.  The Merchants and MusicFestival will be in its tenth year of bringing businesses, patrons and music
together seamlessly. It goes without saying
that the festival has evolved a lot over the years.  To find out just how far the Merchants and
Music Festival has come in the past decade, I reached out to Debbie Buckley, the
Renaissance Manager and Economic Development Director, and Ken Bowman, who was the
Festival chairman for eight years.

I asked Debbie, “What was
the goal for the initial festival?”

Debbie explained, “When the
Merchants & Music Festival began in 2003, it was something of a street festival started by Rick Warner and the Renaissance Board. The goal was to show off the
Fort Thomas businesses with a backdrop of great music.”

The
goal was quickly accomplished as the festival attracted more and more
patrons. With the increasing number of
people in attendance, safety became an issue and the festival had to be
relocated to the cavalry stables in the Midway District. During this era, Ken Bowman was named the
chairman of the festival. 

In
his eight years as chairman, Ken Bowman saw a lot of the headlining bands come through Fort Thomas.  “Our
national acts that graced the stage in my eight years were Pure Prairie League,
Poco, Little River Band, Firefall, John Waite, Dave Mason, FabulousThunderbirds and the Edgar Winter Group. I have great memories from them all.”

 

Amazing turnout for the 2003 festival 

Stage outside of Warners (2003)

Edgar Winter

 Mike Reilly (PPL Bass Player and Fort Thomas native)

Fabulous Thunderbirds

Dave Mason

Ken
had one memory that stood out in his mind… “I
usually shuttle the talent from the hotel to the event. The year Edgar
Winter was here, I was driving to the event when I noticed a huge banner that
Bob Arnzen from the Olde Fort Pub hung across the exterior of the
bar with huge letters saying”Welcome Edgar.” Edgar was in my
front seat with the rest of the band in the back. I commented to Edgar asking
him to “check that out” as we drove by only to learn that he
was legally blind and had very little eye site remaining. I felt pretty bad,
but explained what we were looking at.” 

I
am sure Mr. Winter appreciated the gesture, Mr. Arnzen.

In 2012, the
decision was made to move the festival to the amphitheater in Tower
Park. With its largest venue to date, the
festival was able to recruit nearly 100 businesses to participate.   

Debbie
explained the final move to Tower Park and those who helped make it happen. “In 2012, the decision was made to move
Merchants & Music Festival to the new amphitheater.  That decision allowed us
to encourage businesses from outside Fort Thomas to join us. For the first
time, we had nearly 100 vendors participate. Ashli Slawter was the chairwoman
and created entire teams of volunteers.  Tower Park never looked
better! The Renaissance Board worked long and hard to organize the event.” 

I
asked Debbie and Ken to comment on the success of the festival and how far it
has come since its conception in 2003.

Debbie
said, “This 10 year anniversary will be
our biggest Merchants & Music Festival ever!  Our businesses will have
the opportunity to introduce themselves to more people than ever for minimal
cost.  We will have eight bands on two stages, the kids zone and a wine
tasting tent with eleven wineries!”

Ken
added, “It
is great to see how it has grown into a much anticipated annual event that
draws so many people into our town. From the beginning, its mission was to shine
a positive light on Ft. Thomas and its businesses.  With the new
amphitheater and direction of Ft. Thomas Renaissance, I think that we can say ‘mission accomplished’.”

The
Merchants and Music Festival takes place on September 28 from 2 to 11:30 pm. The event is free and will feature John Michael Montgomery as the headlining act. The beer is cold and the company is second to
none! 

We will see you at the Merchantsand Music Festival!