Promises Tunes, Tourism & Good Times

By ALLISON COLLINS

PRODUCTIONS|FREEPIk

Four Towns Forward will hosT

The inaugural souThern Tier Music FesT, saTurday, July 1, aT

The sidney Municipal airporT.

Singing the area’s praises, Curley said, remained his motivation throughout the planning process.

“We formed the committee with the purpose of driving economic development and getting some people to come to our communities that haven’t been here,” he said. “Maybe they say, ‘This isn’t such a bad place; maybe I should move here from Utica or Binghamton or enroll my kids here’ and just be some type of draw for the area.”

music & more

Highlighting country artists, Curley noted, was based on the genre’s popularity locally. And while music is at the heart of the event, Schunk said, the festival will feature a full day of family-friendly fun.

“(Terry Potter) is the one that got us the two Nashville (acts), and there’s a committee of local people,” she said. “(Unadilla mayor) Jake Cotten is in the music industry, so we have five local bands to keep things a little bit local. And the drummer from Restless Road is from Harpursville, and they’re excellent.

“But the music is just one small piece of the day,” Schunk continued. “We have vendors – over 50 arts and crafts –, some food trucks and the United Way of Sidney is sponsoring all the kids’ activities, because it is a family event. Tickets for super VIP will have (Sidney restaurant) Club 55 and (local caterer) Suzie Decker sponsoring food and Mike Gavin (of Gavin’s Pizza) is for VIP, so we’re trying to do as much locally as we can. And there will be beer and wine. We want it to be a family day: come, bring a blanket, sit on the grass, let your kids run around and there’ll be fireworks at the end of the night.”

Curley and Schunk said the festival, announced in February, is striking a chord.

“(People) are on board,” Schunk said “It’s a nice, central loca- tion; we did look at Unadilla, Bainbridge and Afton, and (the airport in Sidney) was really the best fit. We’ll have parking at (nearby) ACCO (Brands) and shuttle buses to bring people to the airport. Everybody is excited; ticket sales are over 800.”

“The goal was 1,000,” Curley noted in early May, “and we haven’t really advertised that much, so the promoter is thrilled. We’re getting a lot of draw from the Utica and Binghamton areas. And having it at the airport we thought was … a great idea. We can draw people to it – we have a nice, local airport where people can learn to fly or charter a flight, and a lot of people don’t even know that – so I thought it was kind of exciting to have it (there).”

Schunk and Curley said the festival is being funded by “pretty incredible” area sponsorships.

“The key is economic development, and it wouldn’t be possible without the local community support,” Schunk said, noting that she and Curley hope to make the event annual. “None of this would be possible without local businesses and local money. And a lot of these businesses have bought tickets for employees, so that’s very cool, and they’re all definitely embracing it. We started getting commitments in the fall (of 2022), and it was hard, because we couldn’t tell people the acts, but once the bands came on, we hosted a sponsor night and brought them up to speed and I’ve had people call and say, ‘I want to be a part of it.’”

“We raised $121,000 in sponsorships, just in local business, all from the four towns,” Curley said. “The intent isn’t to make money – but if we do, that is a big step forward for 2024. The intent is to draw people to the community.”

Festival gates open at 1 p.m. To purchase tickets, visit brownpapertickets.com. For more information, find “Southern Tier Music Fest” on Facebook or visit southerntiermusicfest.com. Also, contact 4townsforward@gmail.com. +