Blues Traveler Concert Makes 2005 Bele Chere Biggest Ever

August 1, 2005

ASHEVILLE, N.C.— The 22nd Annual Bele Chere Festival was aptly themed "The Year of Surprises." The 3-day event featured 80 bands on six stages, in addition to a slew of surprise entertainment and activities.

Perhaps the biggest "surprise" was the addition of the first-ever gated event at the festival featuring Grammy-award winning artist Blues Traveler. While in past years Bele Chere has featured a variety of regional artists, there was a demand for bigger acts.

"Our surveys have indicated that festival goers would like more national - level entertainment," explains Program Supervisor Melissa Porter. "So we took the chance and it paid off."

Blues Traveler singer John Popper was in top form, playing all their hits including "Run Around" which still holds the title as the longest-charting single in the history of the Billboard charts.

Despite a steady barrage of storms at the start of festival, music and art fans made it out in droves. Nearly 300,000 patrons attended the festival with 8,000 purchasing tickets for the Blues Traveler Performance.

As this was the first time Bele Chere required ticketing for part of the festival, organizers were faced with new challenges such as gating off the area and providing fast, affordable ticket-buying options.

Charged with selling tickets for the event was Atlanta-based Ticket Alterative. While several options were considered, Porter explained that Ticket Alternative was chosen because of their notably low service fees.

According to Ticket Alternative President Iain Bluett, Bele Chere was their best-selling event outside Atlanta this summer.

"The weeks prior to Bele Chere the phones were really ringing off the hook," said Bluett. "We sold a large portion of tickets in advance, and we hope we can provide our services to Bele Chere again next year."

Indeed, plans for 2006 are already in the works and concert fans can expect twice the fun.

"We will be doing two gated events on Friday and Saturday night next year," said Porter.