Festival ends with afternoon of gospel music

The three-day City of Roses Music Festival wrapped up Sunday with an afternoon of gospel music at Riverfront Park.

Despite the small crowd of around 50 people, there was plenty of foot-tapping and enthusiastic applause during the festival's final act, the Sitze Family, a bluegrass band from Fredericktown, Mo.

"The festival has been really good," said 15-year-old Alisha Cochrane, who attended Sunday's gospel concerts with members of her youth group from St. Mary Methodist Church.

"Having the third day as gospel music is a good outreach for Christians. It's been great," Cochrane said.

The Sitze Family, made up of Denny and Candy Sitze and their three sons, didn't seem to mind that it wasn't a sold-out show as they played upbeat bluegrass gospel tunes and interacted with the audience during their sunset performance.

Wes Wade, president of the sponsoring City of Roses Music Heritage Association, said he had initially expected between 700 and 1,000 people to attend the festival Sunday. Only an estimated 300 people came out.

"I don't have a clue why there aren't people out here," Wade said. "The Sitze family is just as good as our other two headliners, and the promotion was there."

Heat possibly one reason

Wade said the temperature, which reached 84 degrees, could be one reason for the lack of attendance.

"We started out with between 100 and 150 people, but as the sun got hotter, people went home," Wade said.

"Overall, the festival went really well in terms of the performances. The quality of entertainment was as good as ever," he said.

This was only the second year for Sunday performances at the music festival. Before 2001, the festival was a two-day event.

Mindy Hoffman of Cape Girardeau said she enjoyed being outdoors and that a river barge served as the stage.

"The music festival is definitely a good idea," she said. "We have a great downtown with lots of potential, but people don't use it very often."

Hoffman said she attended the show to see local Christian bands Shadow of a Savior and IOU.

Melissa Raines of Cape Girardeau said she came to see Jackson native Robyn Hosp, who recently finished recording her third album.

"I've known Robyn for 30 years, and I really enjoy her singing," said Raines. "This has been great, except for the heat."

Although this year's attendance didn't set any records, Wade said everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

"When you see people having a good time, it makes all the work worth it," Wade said.

Wade said preliminary figures showed ticket sales outweighed the expenses of the festival.

"To me, that's a success," he said.

cchitwood@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128