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Thursday, Aug. 07, 2008

Bragg Jam events shatter records

Organizers had already declared this year's Bragg Jam the best ever, and final tallies released Wednesday bear out that pronouncement.

This year's Bragg Jam broke records in both attendance and money raised, festival officials said.

Thanks in part to increasing the festival to eight Macon venues and adding a Moonlight Mile 5K, the Bragg Jam board will donate $45,000 to NewTown Macon for maintenance of the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail.

In all, about 3,000 people attended the festival, board President Brad Evans said.

"This Bragg Jam did more than anyone expected," Evans said. "We're real happy we can make this donation for the trail. I don't think anyone expected it to do this much."

Last year's festival raised $30,000 for the trail, drawing about 2,300 people.

Bragg Jam is in its ninth year. It is named for musicians and brothers Brax and Tate Bragg, who were killed in an automobile accident in Texas. The festival started when local musicians performed a concert in memory of the brothers, featuring songs written by Brax Bragg.

Evans said several factors helped push this year's event to new heights.

"Last year was a real success, and our sponsors saw that and helped out," he said. "We wouldn't have a festival without them. It was a combination of the bands, and just the local (music) scene has gotten better. A lot of the local bands played for free, and a lot of the bands have large audiences."

The festival got off to a strong start with the addition of the Moonlight Mile, a 5K race the week before the festival's "concert crawl." Organizers were expecting about 100 participants and ended up with more than 260. The race brought in $3,000 by itself.

A week later, the festival's art auction raised about $27,000, including $21,000 for a Steve Penley painting of the Allman Brothers Band. Evans said the rest of the money came from sales of tickets and T-shirts.

The Bragg Jam Festival became a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization this year after being run through NewTown Macon previously.

"It was a little scarier without NewTown," Evans said. "It was nice having them there in case things didn't go well."

Evans said the board would be donating a check to NewTown in the next few days.

He said there are already plans to add new things to next year's 10th anniversary festival, including a redesigned Web site.

"I don't think really this year could have gone any better," Evans said. "It's going to be a hard year to top."

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.