The Charlie Daniels Band played at the 14th annual Secret City Festival at Alvin K. Bissell Park on Friday, June 10, 2016. Pictured above is Charlie Daniels. (Photo by Angela Richardson-Newman)
The Charlie Daniels Band and Grand Funk Railroad both played at the Secret City Festival last weekend. Here are two photos from the concerts by Angela Richardson-Newman.
The Charlie Daniels Band played Friday, June 10, and Grand Funk Railroad performed Saturday, June 11. Both concerts were well-attended, and both received good reviews.
It was the 14th annual Secret City Festival. Besides concerts, the festival included music, food, vendors, a car show, a World War II re-enactment, U.S. Department of Energy bus tours, history and science exhibits, arts and crafts, and children’s entertainment and activities.
It’s not entirely clear if the festival will continue next year in the same form or at the same time of year as this year’s festival and previous festivals. This year had been considered a transition year as a new inaugural board of directors was appointed for a new nonprofit celebration. That board is expected to be responsible for the time, location, and length of the festival, as well as sponsorships and funding.
So far, no changes have been announced.
In October, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson wrote a column that said, among other things, that the purpose of the nonprofit is to assume the responsibility of implementing changes to the Secret City Festival/Celebration and other local events. The goal of the organization is to become self-sustaining within five years.
On Monday, Oak Ridge City Attorney Ken Krushenski said the 501(c)(3) application for the new nonprofit Secret City Festival Corporation has been sent to the Internal Revenue Service.
“We’re passing the baton to our new organization, and we’ll be there to support them as they begin to develop that agenda for the coming year,” Watson said near the end of the Monday evening Oak Ridge City Council meeting.
See previous stories on potential changes to the Secret City Festival/Celebration here.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
Pictured above is drummer Don Brewer, a founding member of Grand Funk Railroad, which played Saturday, June 11, 2016, at the Secret City Festival in Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge. (Photo by Angela Richardson-Newman)
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Mike Mahathy says
Those were great performances. Great job city council and staff. Now, let’s cut off our nose to spite our face.
MIKE STEVENS says
Let us all hope that the new board of directors will not change the early June date for the festival. There are too many conflicts in the fall