10 years of music: Dripping Springs Songwriters Festival

Downtown Mercer Street was buzzing this past weekend as the city of Dripping Springs hosted the 10th annual Dripping Springs Songwriters Festival.

More than 40 local and national artists performed at the three-day event. Audiences enjoyed a variety of songs, with performances held in small, intimate venues where songwriters shared the stories behind their music.

Each show ran for about 90 minutes, with artists performing 'inthe- round,' a Nashville- style format where they share the stage.

This year’s festival was a success, and continues to be better each year, according to Pam King, who is the City's tourism manager. Her staff works with other city staff and an army of volunteers to plan and manage the logistics of such a large event.

“All the songwriters love coming to our festival,” said King. “They love our format— smaller, more intimate venues, performing on stage with other artists. Most of the artists I spoke with said Dripping Springs is a special community with great people who really appreciate their music.”

King estimated that attendance reached between 2,500 and 3,000 people on Friday and Saturday, with another 500 on Sunday.

As a free event with no registration, attendance figures are not exact, but all venues reported excellent crowds, with standingroom- only at many shows. “We’ve been told it seemed like there were more people than last year,” King said.

While the festival boosts sales for food and beverage vendors on Mercer Street, the primary goal is to celebrate the artists and give the community an opportunity to enjoy live music and discover new talent.

Deborah Vincent, owner of Mercer Street Art & Boutique, has run her shop for five years next to where the Estes Audiology stage was located. Shops offering art, clothing, and gifts along Mercer Street were bustling with customers between shows.

“It gets better every single year. This year was even better,” Vincent said. “The volunteers are awesome—I can’t say enough good things about them.”

She added that while sales didn’t reflect the increase in foot traffic, merchants like her benefit from the connections made with future customers.

“For me, the benefit comes later. People don’t want to shop, try things on, and walk around with purchases. I don’t make a killing over the weekend, but it’s about getting new customers to know us,” Vincent said.

Not all businesses saw benefits. Carolyn Roach, owner of Mars Beads and Fourth Rock Records, said the festival creates parking challenges for stores off Mercer Street. Festival goers often park in her spaces but don’t visit her store. “The same thing happens on Founders Day,” Roach said. “For stores like ours that aren’t on Mercer Street, there’s no increase in traffic.”

The festival is organized by the City of Dripping Springs and requires 75 volunteers to staff the event. City staff, including the Visitors Bureau, maintenance and parks department, as well as Mayor Bill Foulds and city administrator Michelle Fischer, were involved,” King said.

This year’s festival introduced new features, including a Young Artist Stage on Saturday and the Dripping Springs Art Lounge. The Sunday Jam moved to Stephenson Field and was wellreceived. The event cost about $80,000 to produce, all of which was covered by sponsorships.