After resistance, CVB director vows to fund county festivals
The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors and the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau appear to finally be on the same page with regard to local festival funding.
CVB approves agreement funding festivals
The Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau has formally agreed to fund seven local festivals this year, pending the renewal of a 2-percent restaurant sales tax.
New 2-percent tax has support of local delegation
A pre-filed bill in the Mississippi Legislature to revive the 2-percent restaurant tax in Columbus includes a little something for everybody — and significantly less funding for one entity, in particular.
Restaurant tax: Juneteenth, Southside Blues festivals canceled over tax uncertainty
Even as the Columbus Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau still works on a revised budget to stay in operation through the end of the year, organizers for two of the nine festivals the CVB helps fund have announced they will cancel this year’s event.
MDA awards grants to local festivals
The Mississippi Development Authority has awarded five Columbus and Lowndes County festivals a combined $16,000 through its Tourism Grant Program for the 2013-14 fiscal year.
CVB eliminates tourism grants
The Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau board of directors approved next year’s budget Monday, which establishes grant amounts for local festivals and does away with tourism grants.
Our view: Stupid: City wades into festival quagmire
In Leroy Brooks’ version of the history of Juneteenth, in June of 1865, two months after the end of the Civil War, Union forces notified a group of slaves in Texas that they were free men, women and children. Upon learning this, the slaves in question went before the town council to secure funding for a spontaneous celebration.
Juneteenth: The show will go on
A lack of funding from the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau will not keep Juneteenth from being held for a 17th consecutive year, festival co-founder and Lowndes County supervisor Leroy Brooks said Tuesday.
Our view: Creative funding now needed for Juneteenth Festival
Barring a change of heart among organizers, there will be no Juneteenth Festival in Columbus this year. The Columbus Juneteenth Festival has been held every year since 1995.
No funding, no Juneteenth
The Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors needed just 10 minutes to discuss and vote down a proposal to fund this year’s Juneteenth Festival as a quality of life event in a special meeting Monday afternoon.
Our view: Pass out the paper bags
It took an awfully long time for the New Orleans Saints to find anything approaching success. In fact, the franchise went 20 years before posting
CVB, festival organizers remain at impasse
The debate over the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau’s festival grant guidelines continued Tuesday with a special meeting with festival organizers.
But the only decision to come out of the meeting was to schedule yet another meeting.
CVB festival funding debate set for tonight
The Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau’s festival grants committee will meet with festival organizers tonight to discuss festival grant guidelines put in place August 2012.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the CVB board room.
Neighborhood festival or campaign event?
Welcome to the Friendly City, the historic haven nestled along the banks of the Tombigbee River where the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau has a deal for you when it comes to festival grants, especially if you happen to be a county supervisor or city councilman.
CVB recommends funding for seven events
Festivals throughout Lowndes County are one step closer to receiving funding through the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau.
CVB to vote on first round of festival funding
Event organizers seeking grants for festivals taking place January through July of next year will present their proposals Monday to the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Board of Trustees.
The new model is part of an overhaul of the board’s festival grant guidelines.
Funding, open meeting debate dominate CVB meeting
Festival organizers seeking grant money from the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau will have a new set of guidelines in 2013. The CVB Board of Directors voted in two separate motions to define quality of life events versus tourism events.
CVB weary of Legends talk; Sherrod signs on as pitch man
The Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau has elected a new leader. During Monday’s regular board meeting, Dewitt Hicks was unanimously chosen to serve a one-year term as board chairman. He replaces outgoing chairman George Swales. Hicks, who was appointed to the board by the City of Columbus, urged his board members to work together.
CVB board hears $46,000 worth of grant requests
Brother, can you spare a whole bunch of dimes? Organizers of festival grants appealed to the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau board of directors Monday for festival grant money to help their events.
Columbus tourism agency tightens reins on event funding
A leaner, meaner Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau board dissected festival funding Monday, putting a $16,000 grant for the Juneteenth festival on hold after a heated debate.