The River City Music Festival dates changed this year, moving from September to October, but the redesign of the 14-year-old event didn't stop there.

Organizers with the City of Roses Music Heritage Association, the not-for-profit that doles out scholarships and funds school music programs with money from the festival, have planned other new things and changes to old things, including hours of music, participating venues and blocking off the streets. The festival now falls on the same weekend as First Friday, Tour de Cape and Cape River Heritage Days.

The festival, set for Oct. 1 and 2, will close down Main and Water streets from Independence Street to Broadway starting at 6 p.m. each day. Seven bars on Main Street have signed on as official River City Music Festival venues. A few extras, like S. Gregg Gallery, will also host music but not on both nights.

Instead of the mix of outdoor and indoor stages like in years past, musicians will only play on one outdoor stage, set up on Water Street in front of the Themis Street floodgate. The length of sets depend on the venues, said Samantha Simmons, a new board member this year.

Changing the date addresses complaints of past festival attendees who said Southeast Missouri in September was too hot, it also eliminates scheduling conflicts with the SEMO District Fair this weekend and the East Perry Community Fair on Sept. 24 and 25.

"We didn't want to take people away from those events," Simmons said.

Water and Main streets will be blocked off for the festival. Water Street will host a barbecue competition and be blocked from the afternoon of Oct. 1 to the morning of Oct. 3.

Simmons said they wanted to block Main Street at night for vendors with food and merchandise. She said it was also a safety issue, as they expect 2,500 to 3,000 people each night. Mary Ramsey with the Music Heritage Association and the festival director, said 1,380 people attended Friday night in 2009 and 990 came Saturday. She attributes the lower number to rain earlier that day.

Planning the festival for the first weekend in October puts it parallel with the town's First Friday art openings in which galleries stay open late and hold receptions for new works.

"I think it'll expose two different groups to something they may or may not have thought about seeing," said Marti Wingo with Mozaic gallery in the 5 N. Main St. building. The space facing Main Street connects to Dockside, a festival venue. The Main Street door will stay open until 11 p.m. for people to walk through.

The festival will block off Main Street, where the majority of the art galleries are. The gates at Broadway and Independence Street are the only entrances and exits for festival grounds, which cover Main and Water streets.

People who have or are buying tickets to the festival will receive a wristband that allows them into the venues. People who come only to peruse the galleries for First Friday receptions will receive a ticket that will allow them in and out of festival grounds.

Wingo said she was OK with the festival plans when she learned the gates would not make First Friday visitors pay to enter Main Street.

If someone who came downtown to see galleries decides they want to enter a venue to hear the music, they can purchase an armband at either entrance, Simmons said. The art galleries will be open to everyone.

People who planned just to eat dinner at a downtown restaurant like Cain, Port Cape or Broussard's will be allowed to go to that business while it is still serving food.

"We don't want people not to come eat at Broussard's because we're going to charge them $8 to get in," Simmons said.

The festival admits all ages, but each venue dictates its own patronage. If a bar cannot legally allow an underage person in the doors, it will not make exceptions during the festival weekend. Concerts on the outdoor stage, Dockside on Spanish Street and S. Gregg will be open to all ages.

Heritage Days

The festival also coincides with Cape River Heritage Days Oct. 2 and 3, where several historic sites in downtown Cape Girardeau open and invite visitors to special events. The Tour de Cape will start and finish Oct. 2, rolling about 300 cyclists into the parking lot at Independence and Main streets, according to Joel Allison, representative with Tour de Cape.

Allison said he likes the idea of having activities going on downtown to occupy the family or friends of cyclists in the Tour de Cape.

The tour starts early Saturday and leads cyclists on rides that last from 15 to 100 miles. The routes are tours, not races, so cyclists take their time through the ride and trickle in from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Allison said.

"I hope several riders stay downtown and enjoy Cape in general, but it would be great to have an event downtown and keep cyclists downtown," he said.

The festival includes a barbecue contest with a showmanship competition Oct. 1 and barbecue judging the afternoon of Oct. 2, but the streets will not be blocked off until 6 p.m.

The cyclists, the history visitors and others will be able to enjoy the Rock and Roll Fashion Show and possibly music Saturday afternoon.

Simmons said she wants to see the festival become more of a community event and that she looks forward to mixing in the First Friday patrons and the influx of cyclists with the music fans.

charris@semissourian.com

388-3641