For the first time in five years, BransonFest will not be held at the Welk Resort. Officials with the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce and the annual festival announced at a press conference Tuesday morning that BransonFest 2008 will be held at the Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Complex on 76 Country Boulevard on April 8-12.
“BransonFest is coming back to ‘The Strip,’” Chamber CEO and President Ross Summers proclaimed.
BransonFest, which started in 1992 as Branson Jam, was the brainchild of Joe Sullivan while he was working on a chamber committee dedicated to extending the Branson show season.
“Back when we started this, the show season started May 1,” Sullivan said. “I had this idea for a T.V. program with a bunch of Branson entertainers all on the same stage in one venue, and it has become an annual event. In the third year after we started adding some of the tents and the food and the arts and crafts that’s when we started calling it BransonFest.”
Summers said the move to Dick Clark’s will help get BransonFest back to what it was originally intended, a festival that moves to various locations every few years.
Chris Lucchi, the operating partner with Dick Clark’s, said he is excited for the opportunity hosting BransonFest will give the theater. “We’re one of the newer theaters in town, so this will give us a chance to show people what we can do and introduce ourselves to the community,” Lucchi said.
The American Bandstand’s outdoor lawn, known as Area 57, will be utilized for the tents and vendor fair that have become synonymous with the event.
Tony Orlando was one of a handful of Branson entertainers that showed up for the announcement to voice his support of BransonFest.
“This is my 15th year here, and I’ve gotten to be a part of this over the years,” Orlando said. “It’s a real honor, and I want to keep supporting it.”