By Maria Saporta
Could it be? Music Midtown is coming back?
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s office issued a media advisory today that smells an awful lot like a return of Music Midtown. The title of the advisory: “Mayor Kasim Reed and Live Nation’s Peter Conlon to Make Major Music Announcement.”
A press conference is planned for noon at the W Atlanta Downtown, and the people involved will be: Mayor Reed; Conlon; president of Live Nation Atlanta; William Pate, president of the Atlanta Convention & Visitor’s Bureau; and Atlanta City Councilmen Alex Wan and Kwanza Hall.
Music Midtown was a popular Atlanta institution from 1994 to 2005 when it was discontinued because of losses it had incurred due to inclement weather and the scheduling of major expensive acts.
The three-day festival, however, had been one of the top events of the year. People would come to Atlanta from all over the South to experience big name acts and up-and-coming acts on several stages.
In the beginning, Music Midtown was held on the blocks that are now the home of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. It did move for one year to a downtown location, amazingly close to the W hotel.
And then its final home — for a half dozen years — was on the land from the Civic Center north to North Avenue on a patchwork of parks and streets.
Several people were called Tuesday to confirm whether the press conference was really a return of Music Midtown. But the answer was the same — wait till the press conference.
Can’t wait.
Excellent post. Thankyou.