The “City Where Spring Begins” host the 47th Springtime Tallahassee this weekend. Springtime Tallahassee President Tim Jansen would be the first to admit the event has sometimes been a source of controversy as well as community pride. He said there’s been a lingering perception that the celebration has been pretty much a party for the city’s affluent elite.
“My goal as president was to bring in the entire community and make it a multi-day event,” Jansen said. “So Saturday we have the parade and jubilee. But on Friday night, we’re going to have a music festival that’s free on Kleman Plaza.”
This will be a real first, Jansen said, adding that the quality of the musical talent should attract a lot of attention and people.
“We have three bands coming: Sarah Mac, a local band. Then Old Dominion who opens for Kenny Chesney and then we have Eli Young, which was up for one of five Country Artists of the Year. We’re going to have that at Kleman Plaza and we’re going to close Duval Street. We’ve got local sponsors and we expect between 10,000 and 12,000 people.”
Jansen hopes this Springtime Tallahassee expansion would fit right into the festival’s nearly-half-century of tradition.
“We’re trying to make the music festival an annual event with national recording artists to bring in Springtime and the parade and bring more people to Tallahassee for the entire weekend,” he said. “Before we did a survey and we thought it would generate $5 million or $6 million in revenue to Tallahassee. We’re hoping to hit $8 million or $10 million with this music festival.”
And Jansen insisted none of this takes away from the importance of Saturday’s parade and jubilee, which remain the signature Springtime events.
“We expect 250,000-300,000 people. Mayor Andrew Gillum is going to be the grand marshal and we’re excited about that. We’re also expanding and diversifying cultural diversity. We’re going to have the Colored Reenactment Troops in the parade, free of charge, we’re reaching out to get the whole community involved.”
The 47th Annual Springtime Tallahassee event begins this Friday (March 27th) with the new music festival at Kleman Plaza, starting at 6:00 p.m.
