The risk of Roots

In short, putting River Roots Live on in LeClaire Park, Davenport, was getting too expensive.

“With the park’s bandshell, we had to build a lot of the infrastructure and production value,” said Jason Gilliland, director of events at the partnership. “Our margins are so slim with everything that you get even the threat of weather and 1,000 people don’t come that would’ve come, that makes a difference.”

Between 25,000 and 30,000 attended River Roots Live in previous years. In 2016, with headliners such as O.A.R. and Booker T. Jones, tickets were $25 per day.

“The cold hard truth is that it’s a very risky financial model to have festivals of that scale in the park at the price point we were at,” Carter said. “This fest is a third of the budget of River Roots.”

Along with less risk involved, there is “potentially more benefit to the downtown,” with the new model, where concerts, comedy and film screenings will be held at a dozen indoor and outdoor venues on Aug. 25-26. The Chalk Art Fest, sponsored by Quad-City Arts, and the OMG Becky Fest, an outdoor arts and craft festival sponsored by Crafted QC, are set for the same weekend.