Oak Ridge Today

Record crowds: Secret City Festival was ‘tremendous success’

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Secret City Festival Concert 2015

A concert crowd at the 2015 Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge. (Photo by Robert Welton)

 

The 2015 Oak Ridge Secret City Festival drew record attendance, despite the heat, organizers said. Concerts by the Marshall Tucker Band and Three Dog Night attracted the highest number of spectators in festival history.

“We were ecstatic with the turnout for both concerts,” says, Marc DeRose, executive director of the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We knew the bands would be popular but didn’t expect to see quite so many people. It was outstanding!”

Attendances for The Marshall Tucker Band and Three Dog Night were more than 2,200 and more than 3,500, respectively. The previous record was 2,300 for the Rick Springfield concert in 2013.

“After seeing how many tickets were sold at the gate for Friday’s Marshall Tucker concert, we decided to move the concert fences back to accommodate the expected additional 1,000-plus spectators for Three Dog Night,” DeRose said. [Read more…]

Parks director explains change from WWII re-enactments to ‘living history’ at Secret City Festival

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World War II Re-enactment at Secret City Festival

The Secret City Festival has previously included one of the largest World War II re-enactments in the South, pictured above, but organizers changed this year to a “Salute to Soldiers” program. (Archive photo)

It had been one of the largest World War II re-enactments in the South, featuring close to 200 people in a dozen 1940s-era vehicles at the annual Secret City Festival.

An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 spectators watched the two mock battles at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge each year as British and American forces fought and defeated German military personnel.

But this year, the two-day festival did not include the re-enactments. They were replaced by a new “Salute to Soldiers” program that featured World War II living history activities and demonstrations. That program included period military camps, vehicles, equipment, and demonstrations, as well as educational displays. [Read more…]