The Manhattan Music Coalition
1214 C Moro St.
Manhattan, KS 66502
(785) 320-7151
http://www.myspace.com/mmc..live

The MMC Pulls the Plug on the KONZA Music Festival

7/30/09
For immediate release:

The Manhattan Music Coalition announced this morning at the Riley County Commissioners’ Meeting that they are pulling the plug on the KONZA Music Festival, the 2-day music and camping fest scheduled for August 7th & 8th. After very careful consideration, and cooperation with Riley County Staff, the MMC decided that it was in the best interest of the organization, its sponsors, vendors, staff, bands, fans, and Riley County, to cancel the festival this year.

“We, (the MMC), were naïve to think that we could have a music festival on private land, out of city limits, and no one would bat an eye. To ensure that we remained in an upstanding position with the authorities, I emailed RCPD and MFD (local police and fire departments) to alert them to our plans. This message was forwarded to County Staff, whose jurisdiction, the private land in question fell under. This led to us discovering that the land was actually zoned for agriculture and would require a zoning variance process that takes longer than time would allow. I was very moved that the County Staff was so accommodating to us in trying to find the best avenue in which to proceed,” said Evan Tuttle, MMC Core Officer.

“To my knowledge, the MMC is the first organization to propose such an event in Riley County, so this was a wonderful learning opportunity for all of us. We did not want to put the County in a compromising position, because they would have had to pass a special resolution to allow for this event, due to time, which could result in the County being left vulnerable to too many unknowns. This is not something that I, or the rest of the MMC, were comfortable with. So, rather than rushing everyone involved, causing a mad-scramble, and unintentionally putting the County at risk, we called it off,” continued Tuttle.

“Now we and the County are in a better position to make it happen the right way next time. KONZA Music Festival, which donates 10% of their proceeds to the Friends of the Konza Prairie, for preservation endeavors, will return next summer, full-steam, and completely legit and hassle-free. County Staff has even asked us to participate in the drafting of the paperwork (not a legal term) that will allow for our event in the future,” said Tuttle.

Bands that were scheduled will be contacted about alternate gigs in the Manhattan community for that Saturday, the 8th. “The bands are why we exist. We will do everything in our power to keep them happy, just as they have stepped up time and time again, to help us make the Manhattan live music scene better and better,” said Tuttle.

Bands should be reached very soon, please email konzamusic@gmail.com to be sure.

Sponsors will also be contacted. The MMC hopes that sponsorship funds can be transferred to the 4th Annual Aggiefest, MMC’s OTHER music festival in town, coming September 18th & 19th, to Aggieville. Bands interested in playing Aggiefest should email aggiefestbands@gmail.com


“We are at peace with this decision, and know that this was the right thing to do,” added Tuttle. “We want to ensure continued support from our community, and better to do it this way, than rushed and chaotic, and risk KONZA never happening again.”