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Festival of the Arts is no more

Discussion pertaining to Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Battle Creek, Big Rapids, and Michiana
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MWmetalhead
Posts: 1068
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2024 6:59 pm

Festival of the Arts is no more

Unread post by MWmetalhead »

I was stunned when I saw on News 8 this morning that the Festival of the Arts is going away. I'm unsure where its funding came from, but this weekend it was unceremoniously announced there would be no Festival in 2025 or at any other point in the future.

Anyone know the back story?
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high fidelity
Posts: 70
Joined: Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:08 pm

Re: Festival of the Arts is no more

Unread post by high fidelity »

Like most things in Grand Rapids, was it funded by the DeVos family or the Van Andel family?
andymuskegon
Posts: 86
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 9:06 am
Location: muskegon mi

Re: Festival of the Arts is no more

Unread post by andymuskegon »

i remember one year a while ago, one of the vip's with a golf cart and a walkie talkie came by and chewed my ass out over handing out bumper stickers. i never gave a shit about that particular festival again. i'm 19 and doing what i was asked to do ya dick head
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OneBigFan
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat Feb 25, 2006 10:23 pm

Re: Festival of the Arts is no more

Unread post by OneBigFan »

COVID took a toll on a lot of events.
Generations attended then the habit/tradition got broken. Attendees move, others lose interest. Who knows what event security for the event could be and how it would be paid
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TC Talks
Posts: 12801
Joined: Wed Oct 26, 2005 2:41 am

Re: Festival of the Arts is no more

Unread post by TC Talks »

We went during the Phish shows last year and I was pretty underwhelmed. It seemed to die a slow death.
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Jay2ThePee
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2021 7:20 am

Re: Festival of the Arts is no more

Unread post by Jay2ThePee »

The report I heard is that they couldn't find enough volunteers. There was a staple of volunteers who were gone and they couldn't fill all the rolls.
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Bull Shannon
Posts: 284
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 11:31 pm

Re: Festival of the Arts is no more

Unread post by Bull Shannon »

Jay2ThePee wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2025 8:01 am The report I heard is that they couldn't find enough volunteers. There was a staple of volunteers who were gone and they couldn't fill all the rolls.
I also read that part of the reason why they had trouble recruiting and retaining a new generation of volunteers was because of a "we've always done it this way" mentality by the entrenched old guard that wasn't receptive to any of the fresh ideas these newcomers were proposing.
Botman
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2010 4:44 pm

Re: Festival of the Arts is no more

Unread post by Botman »

Just speaking from personal experience, they didn't treat volunteers or festival participates very well. My weekly comedy show, the Sunday Night Funnies, use to be a part of it. We'd pack the tent on the corner of Ottawa & Fountain early Saturday evenings, then they moved us way out to the di Suvero stage and scheduled the show in the middle of the afternoon.
The time that I was supposed to handle a position within the organization they'd were slow to reply if they replied at all.
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