March 08, 2012 | By: pbeyer | Tags: music, festival
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tom Tom Founders Festival Launches From New Downtown Office
Charlottesville's new creative festival, the Tom Tom Founders Festival,
will celebrate original music, art and innovation for one month,
starting on Founders Day, April 13, Thomas Jefferson's birthday.
During the festival's "City As Canvas" month from April 13 to May 13,
residencies, talks, workshops, and performances for artists and
entrepreneurs will offer an open stage highlighting local innovation
and creativity throughout the community. Most of these events will be
free.
Tom Tom's activity culminates in the main festival weekend, May 11-13;
featuring performances from over 50 bands in venues along the Downtown
Mall; the unveiling of new sculpture, paintings, photography, murals
and interactive art by featured TTFF artists; and keynote presentations
that showcase Charlottesville as an innovation hub for the local food
movement, biotechnology, financial services and other start-up
technologies. Some events will be free. The headlining musical events
will be ticketed, and weekend passes will be sold.
"We have 25 bands from across the country, mostly buzz-bands in the
indie-pop, indie-folk, and electronic genres," said Paul Beyer, the
festival’s director. "They will be joined by more than 25 of our best
local bands who are excited to be part of this new festival."
The festival's line-up and headliners will be announced in the second
half of March, and tickets will go on sale then.
At the Tom Tom Founders Festival launch on Thursday, at the festival's
new headquarters on South 1st Street, Beyer will announce the
festival's three main music stages, and the two gala events – both free
– that will bookend the festival, on April 13 and May 13.
Early tickets and support opportunities will be available through a
Kickstarter initiative, with further details available Thursday. "We
crowd sourced the programming, basically letting the community
determine what happens during the festival, and now we will be
crowdsourcing some of the funding." http://www.kickstarter.com/
"Events are still being lined up and expanded, so we welcome everyone
to get involved and help. Contact us at [4]paul@tomtomfest.com or
through our website at www.tomtom2012.com."
Beyer will also introduce the festival's executive team, including:
Paul Beyer, Director
Paul is the Vice President of R.L. Beyer Custom Homes, a family
business in the Charlottesville and Albemarle region with 22 employees
and 40 years of history in the community. Paul oversees zoning, legal,
rental management, as well as marketing & promotion for the company. In
2010, Paul ran for a seat on Charlottesville’s City Council on a
platform of economic development and the arts, losing by 31 votes. Paul
graduated NYU with a degree in film, writing, & history, and since
returning to Charlottesville, has worked at expanding the creative
communities in his hometown.
Tom Beals, Production
Tom has been producing and promoting festivals and concerts for the
past 12 years. He currently produces the Groovin’ in the Garden concert
series at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, VA. Now in its
15th year, the series has boasted a lineup of numerous nationally
touring and Grammy-award-winning acts. Tom has worked on (and currently
works on) the production team for events such as the Lollapalooza Music
Festival, Austin City Limits, the 2008 Presidential Inauguration, 2010
Vancouver Winter Olympics, and the Super Bowl. He has a dog named
Coaltrain.
Beyer and Beals will be available for interviews.
Contact:
Paul Beyer, TTFF director
paul@tomtomfest.com
434.981.7045
www.tomtom2012.com