1998
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| Before reserved seating, chairs were measured to ensure festival goers could see the stage. |
Major improvements occurred at the Doc and Merle Watson Theatre prior to the 1998 festival. Construction crews raised the entire structure approximately six feet, which greatly improved visibility, and added new wings to make more space for audience seating and artist hospitality. The raising of the stage proved to be well-timed because the lower campus was flooded by heavy rains just days before the festival started. “B” said he was impressed that festival organizers were able to overcome the flooding problems and be ready for the crowds. He said, “It’s a challenge to pull it off anyway. I was just amazed at how smooth it all went. That goes back to people planning. We already were ahead of schedule before the rain came.”
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| Sandy Feat sand sculpture |
A big improvement in 1998 was the assigned seating section in front of the Watson Stage. About 3,000 chairs sold out in advance. This alleviated the mad rush to get good seating in front of the Watson Stage and solved the problem of chairs that were too high and blocked views. “I remember having to stand at the entrance gate and measure the height of festival goers’ chairs as they entered the gates to ensure that fans could see over each other with an unobstructed view of the stage,” says Sherry Dancy, who has been a part of the MerleFest team since the beginning. “We had a height limit so that everyone would be able to see the stage from the field.”
“Adding the reserved seating also made entry into the festival a much safer process,” says Kathy Gray, a member of the MerleFest team since the festival’s first year. “I’ll never forget watching the crowd waiting at the festival gates, and as soon as the gates would open, the sea of people would literally flood onto campus. It was exciting!”
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| Hootie & The Blowfish with Doc Watson & friends |
The newly constructed Alumni Hall introduced two new venues to MerleFest 1998-the Plaza Stage and the Lounge. The Lounge hosted Friday Night Coffeehouse, a gathering place for singer-songwriters to socialize and display their talents, and the Saturday Night Teen Dance. The creation of the Lounge gave the Instrument Contests a new home. By this time, the Instrument Contests included the Doc Watson Guitar Championship, the Merle Watson Bluegrass Banjo Championship and the Mandolin Championship (discontinued in 2011 due to lack of participation).
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| Sam Bush, Hootie and Chris Thile |
Good weather and a record number of fans from around the country (and the world) combined to make MerleFest 1998 perhaps the best edition to date. On Saturday afternoon Leftover Salmon played to thousands of people on the Hillside Stage; a thousand fans packed the Walker Center for the Nashville Bluegrass band; blues artists Catfish Keith and Roy Book Binder were on the Austin Stage; and Doc Watson led “Doc’s Jam” on the Watson Stage.
Another regular feature at MerleFest began in 1998: Sandy Feat’s incredible sand sculpture. Every year the artists amaze festival goers with intricate sand art on display in front of the Visitors Center. The massive sand display takes 16 tons of sand and approximately 25 hours to create. In the weeks after the festival, as the last signs of MerleFest begin to fade away, Sandy Feat’s sand sculpture remains to endure the test of weather and wear.
Hootie and the Blowfish, joined by Chris Thile, ushered in MerleFest 1999 by offering a free concert for Wilkes Community College students. “This band’s generosity truly represented the spirit of MerleFest-giving in order to enrich the college and community,” says Ted Hagaman, festival director. “In this case, the students who always endure some displacement during the weeks leading up to MerleFest as the entire campus is transformed into festival grounds.”