More than 30 bands/artists and thousands of their fans will fill the streets of downtown Dayton next weekend for a two-day musical event unlike any the city has seen before.

Matt Luongo first began planning the Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival almost eight years ago when he was working at the Dayton Development Coalition.

Luongo attended a street festival in the early 2000s in Birmingham, Ala., that he said was “the best music festival you never heard of,” an event that started out small and in its heyday featured 13 different stages, 250 acts and 250,000 attendees. The Dayton native was inspired. He wanted to create a similar festival in his own town, in an effort to draw visitors to the city and propel Dayton into the national music scene.

The event’s title comes from a song titled “Revival” by Luongo’s favorite music group, The Allman Brothers Band. The song contains the repeated line, “People can you feel it? Love is everywhere,” a sentiment that reflects Luongo’s belief that music brings people in a city together.

“Some of my favorite memories from growing up were being at this festival and seeing how people of all races, religions, men, women, all backgrounds were coming together under the guide of this music festival,” he said. “There were never fights. Everybody got along. I just remember seeing that, because music is so powerful. It can say what words can’t sometime. It really does break down barriers. … That just stuck out in my mind so much.”

As the first-year Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival approaches, we take a closer look at the current state of downtown entertainment and talk to local leaders about their goals for the future of downtown.

Entertainment and downtown Dayton

Leaders of local organizations painted a picture of a downtown that is full of entertainment opportunities.

At the forefront of downtown Dayton’s entertainment scene is the Downtown Dayton Partnership, a nonprofit organization funded primarily by a Special Improvement District and also supported by downtown businesses. The organization is dedicated to making downtown Dayton a better place to live, work and visit. The organization, made up of seven full-time and three part-time staff members, works with downtown property owners, businesses and residents to provide strategic planning, business development and marketing services to grow and strengthen downtown.

Among the DDP’s initiatives is First Friday, a free event held from 5 to 10 p.m. every month at more than a dozen locations throughout downtown. This art hop includes exhibit openings at galleries, street performances, roaming entertainers, outdoor concerts, an urban street cycling ride, arts demonstrations and live music. The DDP estimates 2,500 to 3,000 people attend First Friday.

“The primary goal of First Friday is to showcase arts, entertainment (and) restaurants downtown,” said Sandy Gudorf, president of the DDP. “First Friday gives us that opportunity to showcase, to highlight, those very unique entertainment options that quite frankly you can’t get anywhere else in the region.”

The DDP also hosts Urban Nights, a free event that showcases downtown’s dining, nightlife, art, music, retail and urban living options twice a year — once in the spring and once in the fall.

Businesses and restaurants offer discounts, artists and galleries open their doors, musicians and entertainers perform, and several of downtown’s urban living options are open for tours. More than 100 locations are part of the event. The next Urban Nights will take place from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, in downtown Dayton. More than 30,000 people are expected to attend.

DDP does not have available numbers on the economic impact of First Friday and Urban Nights on downtown Dayton, but said business owners continue to report that First Friday helps boost business and that the Urban Nights events are two of their busiest times of the year. Gudorf described Urban Nights as “a giant open house for downtown.”

“It is an event where people can come and just have a great time,” she said of Urban Nights. “There’s music everywhere you look. There’s entertainment everywhere you look, great food and everything else. But it’s a huge economic stimulator as well. It’s one of the busiest nights downtown. Our restaurants are jammed. Our bars and clubs are jammed. … Many of our housing developments, properties, have said they have actually leased spaces from Urban Nights. Our galleries have sold art, so yes, it’s a great event, but it’s also a really strong economic night for our downtown.”

Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival

Downtown is full of both expected and unexpected entertainment opportunities, according to Gudorf.

One of those unexpected opportunities is the Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival, which Gudorf said will be “an incredible weekend.”

In its inaugural year, the festival promises to bring performances by Train, John Legend, Guided by Voices, Guster, Rusted Root, Tony Lucca and more, on Saturday, Sept. 8, and Sunday, Sept. 9, to three stages in downtown Dayton.

Luongo said in Aug. 2011 he left his position as a development officer for the School of Business and for Student Development at the University of Dayton and followed his long-time dream of forming the Downtown Revival LLC in January.

Luongo, the organization’s president, founded Downtown Revival LLC along with Brixey & Meyer, an accounting firm with a local location in Miamisburg. Downtown Revival LLC, which employs five full-time and two part-time staff members, is privately backed by businesses in Dayton, Springfield and Middletown, Luongo said. Its sole purpose is to organize the festival, with the goal to make it a “destination event” and one that continues every year from this point forward, he said. Luongo hopes at least 15,000 to 20,000 attend the first-year festival. Attendance is limited at 40,000.

Luongo estimates the local festival he is preparing to unleash cost $1.5 million to organize, and the local economic impact will be between $1 million and $4 million. Ten percent of all festival proceeds on all sales, except for food sales, will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Miami Valley, of which Luongo is on the board, and Stivers School for the Arts.

“I wouldn’t quit my job and cash in every chip I ever had if I didn’t think we could pull this off,” Luongo said. “Dayton, Ohio, has got an amazing music scene, an amazing art scene. … There’s so many things in Dayton, Ohio, going on. People who say there’s nothing to do in Dayton are crazy. You’re just not looking. Open your eyes.”

Performing arts venues

Dayton Performing Arts Alliance

Dayton offers a variety of entertainment opportunities, Luongo said, and that includes performing arts venues.

Paul Helfrich is president and CEO of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, formed in July 2012 as the result of a merger between the Dayton Ballet, the Dayton Opera and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Together, they are “the largest performing arts organization in the community,” according to the organization. The group currently employs 131 people.

Dayton Performing Arts Alliance performances are made possible in part by Montgomery County and Culture Works, “the single largest source of community funds for the arts and culture in the Miami Valley,” and the new organization also receives partial funding from the Ohio Arts Council. Helfrich said he expects the organization will reach more than 100,000 people in the course of the 2012 to 2013 performance season. He said the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance has a direct economic impact on the Dayton area of an estimated $9 million to $10 million per year.

According to Helfrich, ballet, opera and orchestra performances are “important parts of a diverse cultural and entertainment scene that is itself a key component in Dayton’s overall quality of life.”

“That cultural scene includes downtown festivals like Cityfolk, it includes sports like the Dayton Dragons, it includes museums like Boonshoft (Museum of Discovery), (The) Dayton Art Institute, and the Air Force museum, it includes popular music at nightclubs and theaters, it includes Broadway shows, and it includes the traditional performing arts like the (Dayton) Ballet, (Dayton) Opera and (Dayton) Philharmonic (Orchestra),” he said. “There’s a lot to do in Dayton, and there’s something for every taste and interest.”

Victoria Theatre Association and the Arts Center Foundation

Local leaders pointed to the Victoria Theatre Association and the Arts Center Foundation as another venue that makes Dayton an entertainment hub.

Victoria Theatre Association and the Arts Center Foundation — The Arts Center Foundation is a subsidiary of the Victoria Theatre Association — owns and operates Victoria Theatre, the Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, and the Metropolitan Arts Center, which is home to The Loft Theatre. In addition, the organization operates Citilites Restaurant & Bar at the Schuster Center and The Arts Garage.

Ken Neufeld, president and CEO of the Victoria Theatre Association and the Arts Center Foundation, said his company currently employs about 65 full-time and 75 part-time staff members, which does not include stage hands, artists and 900 volunteers.

According to the 2011-2012 Victoria Theatre Association & Arts Center Foundation Community Report, the total impact of the organization on the Dayton metro area was $33,102,600 during the 2011-2012 season.

“We produce a lot of programming that attracts people to downtown, which is very important for the vitality of our community and our region,” Neufeld said of his organization. “We play a major role in recruiting talented executives and other people to our community. Having a wealth of great arts facilities and arts programming is a very big attraction for people to move here, and so we play a big part in that. We also stimulate activity and investment in the downtown region.”

Ultimately, Neufeld said a city can’t boast world-class entertainment without world-class venues.

“We provide world-class venues that enable us as an organization [and] other arts organizations … to present theater or dance or music at the highest level of artistic achievement because we’ve got great facilities,” he said. ” …There’s nothing that we can’t do.”

What the future holds

Leaders of local organization said their efforts to put Dayton on the map as a city full of entertainment options are far from complete.

The DDP is pursuing its Greater Downtown Dayton Plan, which focuses on creating a downtown attractive to investors, businesses, employees, residents, students and visitors. This economic development plan includes initiatives to establish a “consortium” of arts, entertainment and culture organizations, creating a bicycling culture on the streets of greater downtown, and making greater downtown’s rivers more accessible and enjoyable.

Gudorf said funding is almost complete, and construction will likely start next spring on the RiverScape River Run, a signature project of the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan. The project’s goal is to fix the issue of the low dam in the Great Miami River that stands in the way of kayakers and other water enthusiasts, according to the DDP. After the dam is removed, a seven-mile stretch will be opened up from Eastwood MetroPark to Carillon Park, giving people an opportunity to get out and get in the river, the DDP said.

“That is really going to add a new and different entertainment option in our downtown,” Gudorf said of the RiverScape River Run.

Other organizations are developing new entertainment initiatives, too.

“I see things getting even better in the future, and I think the performances of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance will be a big part of that,” Helfrich said. “There’s a bit of a void right now in the summer months, in terms of traditional performing arts. … We’re talking about some new summer events for (a) few years down the road. Also, we will be rolling out some major new collaborative programs starting in the fall of 2013; stay tuned for more details on those.”

Likewise, Neufeld said Victoria Theatre Association and the Arts Center Foundation moving forward will work to diversify its audiences, attract more young people to its programming, and develop stronger links with corporations and other business groups like the DDP to promote entertainment downtown. Neufeld said the future of entertainment in downtown Dayton is promising.

“I point to not only what we’re doing, but the newly merged Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, which is giving the (Dayton) Philharmonic (Orchestra) and the (Dayton) Opera and the (Dayton) Ballet a much stronger financial foundation,” he said. “And then I also point to things like the Downtown Revival (LLC), which is a new initiative; it’s going to bring a lot of people downtown. … The new pavilion at RiverScape (Metro Park) is bringing a lot of people downtown. I think that we are really going into a period of time that’s very positive, that’s bringing a lot of new people downtown. When we did ‘Wicked,’ 40 percent of our single ticket buyers had never been to the theater before. That’s an unbelievable number of people that are coming downtown and having a fantastic experience, and they’ll come back. I’m very encouraged about how things are going downtown. I’m very encouraged about the entertainment scene in the Miami Valley.”

Luongo, who is taking Dayton’s music scene into his own hands this month, agrees.

“For the future, I think it is going to continue to thrive and grow,” he said of Dayton and the arts. ” … Dayton’s got a lot to offer, and I think it’s just going to keep getting better and better.”

Downtown Dayton: By the numbers

The Downtown Dayton Partnership reports that downtown Dayton has:

• More than 60 restaurants
• More than 35 nightclubs and bars
• 10 performing arts groups in six theaters
• 15 museums and galleries
• One minor league baseball team, the Dayton Dragons, who recently set the national professional sports record for consecutive sellout home games
• RiverScape MetroPark

Find It Downtown

Locate parking, dining, shopping, services, galleries, theaters, churches, and other downtown businesses and amenities with the Downtown Dayton Partnership’s online and mobile search tool. Go to www.downtowndayton.org, and click on “Find It Downtown” to learn more.

How to go

What:Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival

When:Saturday, Sept. 8, and Sunday, Sept. 9

Where:Three stages in downtown Dayton

Tickets:All tickets are two day passes for $75.

More information:www.downtownrevival.com

Coverage of Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival

The Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival will bring more than 30 bands/artists on Saturday, Sept. 8, and Sunday, Sept. 9, to three stages in downtown Dayton.

The Dayton Daily News talked to John Legend, Train, Guided by Voices, Guster, Tony Lucca and Red Wanting Blue about their upcoming performances at this two-day event.

Check out our Q-and-A with Springfield’s own Legend inside the Life section today. Find out what you should expect from his show and what Legend is most excited about doing when he comes home next weekend.

Read the life section every day this week for more Q&As with big-name bands preparing to perform in our city.

Schedule of events*

Saturday, Sept. 8(Doors open at noon)

Budweiser Stage

1:30-2:30 p.m.:Bronze Radio Return

3-4 p.m.:Griffin House

5-6:15 p.m.:Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk

7:15-8:30 p.m.:Guster

9:30-10:45 p.m.:John Legend

—-

CareSource Stage

1-2 p.m.:Burnt Sugar

2:30-3:30 p.m.: Kristy Lee

4-5:15 p.m.:The Werks

6:15-7:30 p.m.:Cowboy Mouth

8:15-9:30 p.m.:Guided by Voices

—-

Monster Stage

12:15-12:45 p.m.:Prima Luce

1:15-1:45 p.m.:The Giant Steps

2:15-2:45 p.m.:Customer Service & the Gem City Horns

3:15-3:45 p.m.:The Right Now

4:15-4:45 p.m.:Crusher

5:15-6 p.m.:Wheels

6:30-7:15 p.m.:Motel Beds

7:45-8:30 p.m.:Jordan Hull

9-10:15 p.m.:Needmore

—-

Sunday, Sept. 9(Doors open at noon)

Budweiser Stage

1:30-2:30 p.m.:Heartless Bastards

3-4 p.m.:Andy Grammer

5-6:15 p.m.:Rusted Root

7:15-8:30 p.m.:Mat Kearney

9:30-10:45 p.m.:Train

—-

CareSource Stage

1-2 p.m.:Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers

2:30-3:30 p.m.:Red Wanting Blue

4:15-5:30 p.m.:Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe

6:15-7:30 p.m.:The Ohio Players

8:30-9:45 p.m.:Robert Randolph & the Family Band

—-

Monster Stage

12:15-12:45 p.m.:Good English

1:15-1:45 p.m.:Lauren Eylise

2:15-3 p.m.:Bad Sines

3:30-4:15 p.m.:Green Light Morning

4:45-5:30 p.m.:Buffalo Killers

6-6:45 p.m.:The Cliftones

7:15-8 p.m.:Brent James & The Contraband

8:30-9:45 p.m.:Tony Lucca

*Schedule subject to change

Source: www.downtownrevival.com