There is supposed to be a rodeo and a food truck competition during July’s Blame My Roots Festival in Belmont County, but whether or not the three-day country music event will take place remains an unknown just two months away.
Chris Dutton, co-founder of the festival, revealed some surprises his family has planned for the third weekend of July, including rodeo events and a food truck festival with the vendors competing against each other.
“We still have some really cool food trucks lined up for that. All of the food trucks would compete against each other based on the votes from the fans that are at the music festival and the judging would take place the entire weekend,” Dutton said. “One thing I really liked it is that a few of the vendors were really excited and amped up to come and do this. When you have that, the others usually join in and make the whole event a lot of fun for everyone. It would have shined a positive light on all of the vendors there, and when that’s the case, everyone makes a little money along the way.
“Since last year, we have had a lot of conversations about what we could add to the weekend, and yeah, one thing was putting on part of a rodeo in the campground,” Dutton reported. “The rodeo would be on Saturday and would include bull riding and barrel racing. I grew up on a farm, so I have always loved rodeos and things like that, and I know the bull riding event in Wheeling always has been very popular.”
But Will It Happen?
Dutton doesn’t know. It’s really that simple. He doesn’t know if he and his family should move forward with even more plans for new attractions; he doesn’t know how the governor will decide to release restrictions; and the co-founder doesn’t know if single-day tickets will be placed on sale in June as planned.
Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine extended the state-at-home order until May 29, and when the announcement was made, Dutton filled with more doubt especially since the country music industry has realized more than 7,000 cancelations to date.
“I really don’t think it’s going to be our call,” he explained. “I know with all of the cancelations that have taken place already, it’s a mess for the people in Nashville right now. We’re trying to hold out hope that we’ll be able to move forward with this summer’s event, but with Gov. Dewine extending the stay-at-home order through the month of May, well, that was a gut-punch when we first heard about it.
“Based on what we were being told in the very beginning of this, I was real hopeful that we would be able to move forward, but this virus has been a bigger deal than I think a lot of people expected,” he continued. “The good news is that we’ll be able to hold out for a while because everything we use to put the festival on is all rental equipment. All we’ll have to do is mow some grass and get our people together so we can be as organized as possible.”
Step by Step
The number of positive cases has continued to grow during the last week and are expected to do the same over time this spring and summer, and that may slow the opening process in both West Virginia and Ohio. As of today, according to the Center for Disease Control, there have been 1,242 confirmed positives and 50 deaths in the Mountain State and nearly 21,000 positives and more than 1,100 related deaths in Ohio.
“That’s why I am a little nervous about how state officials are going to slowly roll out things that we’re allowed to do in the future,” Dutton admitted. “I don’t know what those officials are going to put into place as far social distancing and things like that, and I don’t know when we will be told that information either.
“But right now, we don’t know if we should get rolling with our prep work, and that’s been very frustrating, to be honest,” he said. “Our ticket sales were doing great up until this pandemic started. We had hit our markers to that point, so we were very excited about our second year. But now, to be honest, I may be in denial when it comes to my hope that we can move forward. But again, we just don’t know right now.”
Solid Sales
Dutton pulled the trigger on the a second annual Blame My Roots Fest soon after the first ended, and that decision allowed for local fans of country music to purchase three-day tickets for shows that will include the likes of Neal McCoy, Tracey Lawrence, Justin Moore, and Jo Dee Messina.
“Through December and January, we had sold more tickets than we did for all three days last year, so we were really excited, and that’s why we were moving forward with some new stuff that would surround the stages,” he said. “There’s a number we need to hit when it comes to the sales because there are a lot of things that we bring in for that weekend. We felt we were going to at least break even this year and maybe even make up for the colossal loss we incurred last year.
“We would really like to see some positive news from those state officials so we can open the flood gates and get moving on what we have planned for this year. If that doesn’t happen, I don’t know, but we all realize that keeping people safe and healthy is everyone’s priority right now,” Dutton said. “But the buzz we were hearing and what we were seeing on social media really had us excited for year two.”
In the end, it’s about business, and that means black ink is preferred over red.
“And the one thing that maybe most people do not realize is that we have to start booking for next year’s festival right now. That’s how the industry works,” the co-founder explained. “It’s that far in advance, so for country music festivals, you start booking in April and May the year before, and that means you’re putting out the money for the deposits.
Could COVID-19 Kill It?
In a word, NO!
As Dutton explained, booking for shows in 2021 has commenced, and he and his family have committed to that third weekend in July once again.
“We are committed to the third year. It is our plan to keep this thing going, but we’re going to have it wait to do all of the booking until the promoters figure out their end of everything,” he said. “Obviously, we’re not the only folks involved, and there are certainly much bigger players in this industry than us.
“The worst part about all of this is that there is no insurance for us to buy when it comes to this stuff, and so if we don’t have the show, it’s a tremendous loss,” Dutton admitted. “We have paid the deposits for all of the acts this year, and we’ve paid for a lot more than just the acts. If we have to cancel this year, we’ll be out tens-of-thousands of dollars, and no one likes it when that happens; trust me.”
For many years, patrons of Jamboree in the Hills inundated the Valley View Campground with campers, tents, food trucks, and nightly concerts by local and regional artists.
“That’s why it’s so important to us. It’s a tradition with our family just like it was for 40 years for thousands of others in this area and from far beyond this valley,” Dutton said. “Everyone in our family enjoyed seeing those folks year-in and year-out, so when Live Nation decided not to do Jamboree in the Hills anymore, we knew we had to do something.
“Our first year was a success as far as the music was concerned,” he added, “but we gave those fans only four months, and many of them had made new plans. That’s why we announced early.”
