Gerry Williams
Festival Coordinator
The Music Festival began in 1998, when then-Carrboro resident Elizabeth Boisson and the Carrboro Arts Committee suggested to the mayor and board of aldermen that we join the handful of American communites that celebrate the summer solstice through participation in the International Fete de la Musique. After deciding to go ahead with the event (against the advice of some professional concert promoters), we agreed that we should plan the event for the Sunday closest to the actual summer solstice of June 21. There was an opinion within the committee that we should do as they do in France, and always do the event on the actual day of June 21, but most committee members realized that here in the U.S. we would have much greater participation on the weekend.
So we did just that, and were one of the first American communites (and certainly the smallest) to participate. The town provided us with a liason person in the form of James Harris of the Office of Community and Economic Develepoment. He coordinated our interaction with the necessary town departments and made certain that we prepared and presented the event while following town rules and regulations. Committee members (especially Ms. Boisson and Jackie Helvey) walked the streets to raise monetary contributions as well as items for our fundraising raffle from community businesses. A large number of musicians from the talented local pool volunteered their services and the first event was a success and in the books.
In its first four years, the Fete de la Musique had four different committee chairpersons, a rather large planning committee and (as many high school and college students were away for the summer) very few day-of-the-event volunteers. We experienced three years of very hot weather and one year of light sprinkles that forced us to scramble to reschedule a few of the outdoor sites. We even tried, in the spirit of the original fetes, an “acoustic alley†along West Weaver Street where musicians were invited to just show up and play (it is my recollection that it did not go as well as we had planned).
In 2002, Mayor Nelson asked me to coordinate the event and, after agreeing, I made the suggestion to move the event to September and change the name to the simpler Carrboro Music Festival. The committee agreed with me, and a new event with basically the same celebratory concepts was born. It had the same basic reason for being (minus the solstice celebration), namely showcasing the rich bounty of local talent and extolling the virtues of a community so rich in appreciation of the arts.
Since then, the Carrboro Music Festival has been blessed with wonderful weather, an abundance of volunteers and an ever-increasing attendance. A small planning committee, containing a handful of the festival’s founding members, continues to attend monthly meetings beginning in the spring. We analyze and discuss every aspect of the event and make every effort to make it better — that has always been our paramount concern.
There have been minor changes in the event, the biggest being moving the event under the supervision of the wonderful Recreation & Parks Department, but the essence has remained the same. It has grown from a primarily locally oriented event to one that now is recognized outside the Triangle as a wonderful family event, rich in sights and sounds for adults and fun and educational activities for children. The reputation amongst musicians has grown and it is now perceived as both a great source of exposure and a way to give back to an appreciative community.