Save Riverfront Nights

We, the undersigned residents, boaters, business owners, vendors, visitors, and supporters of Chattanooga’s riverfront, respectfully ask that Riverfront Nights continue during the planned two-year Ross’s Landing refurbishment.

We understand that improvements to Chattanooga’s riverfront are important, and we support maintaining and improving our public spaces. However, we strongly believe that shutting down Riverfront Nights for two full years is not the only solution.

Riverfront Nights has become an important part of Chattanooga’s summer culture. It brings people together on the river, creates opportunities for local musicians and vendors, supports nearby businesses, and gives families and friends a place to enjoy live music in one of the most unique settings in the city.

Moving Riverfront Nights to Coolidge Park may sound like an alternative, but it does not provide the same experience or capacity as Ross’s Landing.

One of the things that makes Riverfront Nights special is the ability for boats to gather along the river, tie up, and enjoy the concerts from the water. Coolidge Park cannot accommodate the same number of boats or provide the same practical boating experience.

The riverfront venue also accommodates a tremendous number of people on land. Moving an event of this size to a location that cannot comfortably handle the same crowds could create significant problems with parking, pedestrian congestion, boating access, safety, and overall capacity.

Riverfront Nights isn’t simply a concert. The river is part of the event.

Cancelling Riverfront Nights for two years could also have a significant impact on the local people and businesses that depend on these events.

Vendors, food and beverage businesses, musicians, event workers, nearby restaurants, marinas, and other local businesses benefit from the crowds Riverfront Nights brings to downtown Chattanooga.

For many of these people, losing two entire seasons isn’t simply an inconvenience — it represents lost income and lost opportunities.

We recognize that construction and refurbishment take time. But two years without one of Chattanooga’s most popular riverfront traditions is a substantial loss to the community.

Rather than simply canceling Riverfront Nights, we ask the city and organizers to work with the community to find a way to keep the tradition alive during construction.

We ask that officials explore options such as:

We respectfully ask the City of Chattanooga and all parties involved to NOT shut down Riverfront Nights for two years without first exhausting every reasonable alternative.

We ask that Riverfront Nights continue in some form during the Ross’s Landing refurbishment, preserving the music, community, boating tradition, local vendors, and economic activity that make these events so important to Chattanooga.