Conditional permits approved for major Charlotte music festival

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The city of Charlotte has issued conditional permits to a group to bring a major music festival to Midtown in 2020.

Documents obtained by Channel 9 through a records request show, QCMF, LLC's public assembly permit application was conditionally approved by the city of Charlotte on May 24.

According to the application, the event is called the Queen City Music Fest and it will be held May 7-10. The location is listed as Charlottetown Avenue between Fourth Street and Seventh Street.

Councilman Tariq Bohkari briefly mentioned the event during a town hall Tuesday. In an interview with Channel 9 Wednesday, Bokhari declined to share extensive details of the event but said it will have multiple genres and feature well-known musicians.

[Art and music color the Greenway]

"A lot of very major headliners," Bohkari said. "You will know the names."

Bohkari and his colleague, Councilman Larken Egleston, helped form the "Music Everywhere" group. The group's goal is to highlight local artists, venues and festivals.

Next year's festival in May will feature local artists and venues in addition to prominent musicians, according to Bohkari.

"There's gonna be a connection and mix of not only local musicians getting to perform amongst national acts and also a connection with our venues around town," Bohkari said. "Our goal is to make this a citywide experience."

Bohkari hopes the music festival will be one of the largest multi-day festivals in the Southeast.

According to the application, the event organizer estimates 10,000 people will attend and 15 live bands will perform. The permit was applied for by Eileen Kehoe. A phone number on the permit goes to Bob Durkin, an organizer of the Carolina Country Music Fest in Myrtle Beach.

Final permits are expected to be issued a couple of weeks prior to the event, according to a city spokesperson.

The effort to better promote local music is well received by local musicians.

David Britt, a local recording artist, is optimistic about the city's music future.

"The best days are yet to come for sure," Britt said. "There's so many talented people coming up in this city right now. People have no idea; it is amazing."

Britt hopes Bohkari and Egleston's efforts will lead to Charlotte being recognized one day as a global music destination. He says a major music festival is a great start.

"I think it is great because music is something everybody loves, it brings everybody together," Britt said. "When you have as much talent as we do in Charlotte, to showcase that talent and bring people together and have events and shows, there is nothing but positive things that can come out of that."

Organizers for the Queen City Music Fest did not respond to Channel 9's messages.

Cox Media Group