BusinessReport.com

The Bayou Country Superfest, a two-day music festival slated for Memorial Day weekend 2010, took a major step toward fruition with today's unanimous vote of the Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to commit up to $300,000 toward the event. Quint Davis, CEO of Festival Productions Inc. New Orleans, which puts on the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the Essence Music Festival, is planning the event, which will be held in Tiger Stadium.

While the lineup of performers and ticket information won't be released until the fall, the event will feature country music stars on the level of Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban. AEG Live, the second-largest concert promoter in North America, is promoting the event along with Davis. AEG has exclusive deals with well-known performers such as Chesney, Bon Jovi and Paul McCartney.

Davis said at today's CVB meeting that the event will mean not only a $23 million economic boost for the Baton Rouge economy, but a rebranding of the city as a regional weekend destination—something he encouraged CVB officials to capitalize on. Davis says the Superfest is not a one-off event, but will run at a minimum of three consecutive Memorial Day weekends, with the aim of making it an established annual event. It's not uncommon for large-scale entertainment events to not make money until the third year, he says. Davis is confident the Superfest will be a success since country music has much more mainstream audience now than in the past.

"You'll see some cowboy hats and boots, but it doesn't look very different than a Rolling Stones show or a U2 show," he says.

Davis says Paul Arrigo, the CVB's president and CEO, was extremely persistent in lobbying him to explore the possibility of bringing a major event to Baton Rouge, which Davis said is a "very dynamic and vibrant place" to put on such a show. The CVB will get $350,000 worth of marketing for its $300,000 investment. Also, having a major event during Memorial Day weekend will fill up hotel rooms that are usually empty that time of year, Arrigo says.

"This is a really defining moment for this community," Arrigo says. The CVB's vote came a day after the Metro Council also agreed to put up $300,000 for the festival.