Give a round of applause to Grass on the Black

“Your community is lucky to be able to have something like this.”

Those were the words of a performer at last weekend’s Grass on the Black event. She had just finished her set and was sitting and enjoying a cold beverage at an outdoor bar overlooking the Black River in downtown Medford.

She said she was impressed that the community came together to support the event and expressed doubt that her home town would ever get behind something like this.

By virtually any measure, the 2024 Grass on the Black music festival was a success. This was the third year for the event. Attendance continues to grow each year, as does the quality of the bands and performers.

A great deal of this success comes from the organizers who worked throughout the year to plan and improve on prior years’ events. The success of any event is a reflection on the amount of work and effort that its organizers put into it behind the scenes.

Another key to the success of an event like Grass on the Black is the sponsorship support of the business community. This has been, and continues to be essential in getting the fledgling music festival up and running.

The other key to the event’s success has been the support of the city of Medford among its leadership and employees. In recent years, the city has taken a larger perspective in recognizing the value that improving quality of life for residents can bring to everyone. Downtown improvements have made people want to linger and spend time and money browsing in downtown shops. Likewise, park and infrastructure improvements draw people from outside the area and surrounding communities and creates community-building hubs within the city. Rather than being a place where young people try to escape from, it helps Medford and Taylor County be a place to escape to.

Seemingly small things, like lending picnic tables and trash receptacles for events, placing caution signs for pedestrians, and having open, supportive lines of communication between the city and event organizers make a big difference in the success or failure of an event.

The organizers of the Grass on the Black deserve a round of applause in putting on this event. The sky is the limit for its potential as not only a way to celebrate live music, but for its economic impact to the greater community.

Events draw people to the community. People spend their money at local taverns, stores and restaurants who in turn pay employees, contractors and vendors with the money eventually circulating throughout the entire community creating the proverbial rising tide that lifts all ships.

Congratulations to all involved with the Grass on the Black for showing that good things can happen when people work together toward a common goal.