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Two years ago, organizers of the growing Denver Days festival wanted to express their gratitude that the annual celebration had caught on and was becoming a popular community event.
“A couple of folks suggested, ‘Why don't we open the festival with a gospel night?'” said David Rohr, president of Denver Days. “We thought this was a reverent, thankful way to begin the event.”
In 2008, the festival opened with a Wednesday-night concert of gospel and inspirational music that drew several hundred people.
So many music groups responded to a call for musicians for Gospel Night that some had to be turned away, Rohr said. All who played volunteered their time.
This year, the free Gospel Night will be 6-9 p.m. Sept. 23, with performances by local and regional artists, including Hims of Praise, Shepherd's Voice, Jennifer White and the Dry Fork Ramblers.
It kicks off the seventh annual Denver Days festival.
Musical styles will include gospel and bluegrass.
A rainy weekend
After the first Gospel Night, three days of rain washed out the festival's weekend.
“It would have been really easy for all of the volunteers to fall into a funk about what happened,” Rohr said.
A large grass field used for the festival looked like a war zone, Rohr said, as volunteers continued to set up and hoped the rain would stop.
“It tore up the turf, and it was a big mud bog down there,” Rohr said. Cars were stuck in mud up to their axles, and it took thousands of dollars and hours of work to fix the field.
“With as bad a rainout as it was, (Gospel Night) set a positive tone for all of the volunteers,” Rohr said.
When the rain stopped, volunteers quickly reorganized and pulled together a mini-version of the festival for the next weekend. One volunteer spent three days on a tractor working to repair the turf.
Crisis averted by volunteers
This year, Gospel Night was briefly in jeopardy when its organizer moved to Arizona for a job.
“Our little volunteer group was already stretched,” Rohr said. But the consensus was that volunteers didn't want to lose the event.
“We said, ‘We'll figure out a way to make it happen,'” Rohr said. He recruited his parents, who live in Denver and are retired, to plan it. “They rose to the occasion and did a great job,” Rohr said.
The gates will open at 5 p.m. for Gospel Night. Parking will be $5 per vehicle Sept. 23. Church buses will be allowed only for Gospel Night; parking will be $20 for short buses and $40 for full-size buses.
Visitors are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. Available food will be limited; vendors and the festival's beer and wine garden will not be open Sept. 23.
Webbs Chapel United Methodist Church will sell fried fish dinners, and the festival's amusement rides will be open for a special price.
Rohr said the volunteers are committed to the festival.
“I think it's good for the community to get out and see your neighbors in a social environment like that,” he said.
For driving directions and information about Denver Days, visit www.DenverDays.com. The festival is on N.C. 16 at Triangle Circle Road, about 1.25 miles north of N.C. 73.
Marty Minchin is a freelance writer.
