I’ve been trying to build what you describe for years with Extra Chill Fest. Getting the local support in terms of ticket buyers has proven to be extremely difficult, but it has certainly grown. I have not tried much for sponsors since the first year (2018). Back then I had a friend who was the local PBR rep, and another friend who was helping me stay organized on the production / budget side of things. Both of them have since moved away.

Not saying that I don’t think it’s worth trying, but I don’t even know where to begin. Those connections made it happen.

I am obviously very interested in hosting a large scale event of this kind. It has been my dream to host a giant music festival with all genres and lots of awesome art and local collaboration. My plan was to just find a way to become wealthy first and then put up the money myself to buy property and build the festival grounds. That has also proven to be difficult, lol, but I still believe in it.

I think working with people who see this kind of community vision is the best path forward. Things have been frustrating for me lately but I’ve come to understand that what we’re doing is good and it is working. We’re just fighting an uphill battle in a city (and a state) that does not embrace its home-grown artists like it should.

Ultimately, getting people to band together and understand that their presence is more than just a fun night out on the town. Or maybe it’s a matter of properly marketing our events as just a fun night out on the town. Either way, we need to find a way to get and hold the attention of the mainstream Charleston audience (i.e. the people with money to spend). Because I don’t think we’re going to see any change for the better in terms of cost of living, talented artists moving to town more than they move out, and things like that anytime soon.

We’ve gotta work with the hand we’ve been dealt in this case.