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<\/a>\u201cThe event has steadily grown for the past three years, with this year being the best so far,\u201d said Scott Kessler, Executive Director of the Adams Avenue Business Association. \u201cOur crowds continue to grow \u2014 with this year\u2019s\u00a0Sunday\u00a0crowd being the largest yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is great news for a festival that had to redefine itself from the street fair format and continue to coax people to come enjoy the music and patronize the businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people have come to embrace the new event format including our business owners,\u201d Kessler explained. \u201cBut some folks are disappointed we changed from the Adams Roots Festival format.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed it seemed the business owners did have a positive response to the 2014 attendance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s Adam\u2019s Avenue Unplugged was by far the best we\u2019ve seen,\u201d co-owner of Jayne\u2019s Gastropub Jon Erickson said. \u201cWe we\u2019re packed to capacity both days \u2026 and will be expanding our music schedule next year.<\/p>\n
It can be a tough event to stage monetarily, but the area\u2019s businesses banded together to assure a successful Kickstarter campaign that made it all possible,\u201d Erickson continued. \u201cWe are starting our eighth year on the Avenue and it is great to see so much positive, grass roots growth happening here.\u201d<\/p>\n Incorporating a campaign on Kickstarter, an online crowdsourcing platform, was just one new item Kessler and the AABA implemented to make the event profitable.<\/p>\n \u201cWe did a number of things this year to help the event\u2019s bottom line including expanding the vendor area, selling reserved seating to our national touring acts, selling sponsorship and running [the] successful Kickstarter campaign,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cOur books on the event are not final yet but it looked like we didn\u2019t lose money this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Another official music venue for the event, Sycamore Den, opened their doors for the first time during the 2013 Unplugged and this year saw a solid turnout as well. As Kessler and company are now hard at work on the next upcoming events in the area \u2014 Taste of Adams (June 29) and the Adams Avenue Street Fair (September 27 & 28) \u2014 they\u2019ve already got their sights on next year\u2019s Unplugged.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have just started our process of evaluating this year event and suggesting improvements,\u201d Kessler said.<\/p>\n<\/a>
Kensington Library Park Stage at Unplugged. (Photo by Jen Van Tieghem)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n\u201cWe had a great event, and we piggy backed our anniversary party\u00a0on Saturday\u00a0with a parking lot beer garden and it was well received,\u201d co-owner Nick Zanoni said.<\/p>\n