In 2023, Richland native Caleb Brown brought his vision to life — a full-scale music festival, right here in Tri-Cities.
The festival, Uptown Get Down, was a total success in its inaugural year. Brown packed the Uptown Shopping Center with stages, vendors, and attendees. Over a thousand people flocked to the shopping center in Richland, seeing dozens of performances. The headliner, Afroman, drew a packed crowd to the main stage at the Uptown Theatre.
But the year after, Brown went too big — he expanded the festival beyond its capabilities, budgeted beyond reality and allowed some relationships with local bands to crumble.
The festival’s second year, Tri Town Get Down (TTGD), was not what the community hoped, as evidenced by attendee responses online, as well as the talent and volunteers who reached out to us after the fest. In the fallout, some artists in Tri-Cities said they would never work with Get Down again, so long as Brown was involved.
In the months since the festival in June 2024, though, Brown has been completely removed from the operation.
Who’s taking over the festival?
This year, the festival is being taken over by Emerald Spark Events, the recently-created event management company spearheaded by Alicia Cullison and Dara Quinn. It will no longer be a Get Down event, or follow the Get Down festival model.
Quinn and Cullison met while working at the 2024 Tri Town Get Down festival. While they had separate roles, they realized they worked well together, and had similar visions for community events.
Following Tri Town Get Down, Quinn was approached with the possibility of taking over, but she had Cullison in mind for the next leader. They got to talking, and “realized there was a spark,” they said in a prior interview.
They both have experience with large events beyond Get Down. With nods to both of their existing ventures, The Emerald of Siam for Quinn and Spark Innovative Learning Project for Cullison, Emerald Spark Events was born.
Quinn has been in the music industry for decades, with more connections than she has booking space. Cullison has experience with several nonprofit organizations, including the Tri-Cities Diversity and Inclusion Council and Tri-Cities Pride, on top of work with the Learning Project.
Brown posted on his social media platforms earlier this month that he sold the Get Down company, Tri-Town Get Down LLC. “Get Down will forever be my dream come true, and it was so hard to let go…” Brown stated in the posts.
However, the festival’s new leaders clarified that the company was not sold; rather, Brown was bought out of the organization.
With the shift in ownership, Emerald Spark is being entrusted to produce the festival by various investors and State of Motion, a nonprofit focused on providing business resources for budding small businesses.
Get Down is no more, and Brown is no longer involved in any capacity, according to the Emerald Spark duo. He will not make any profit from current operations.
“TTGD is dead,” Quinn said.
Tri-Cities music festival updates
The festival is being completely reorganized with a new model, and rebranded under the name Fusion Fest. Its new leaders draw inspiration from, and are learning from, festivals like Treefort and Bumbershoot.
“We’re focused on the positive, and looking forward,” Cullison said in an interview.
In 2025, Fusion Fest will have their main event on June 14 at John Dam Plaza. The community will be involved throughout the week leading up to the main stage event. Local businesses will host smaller events and offer discounts to those with Fusion Fest wristbands all that week. So if you pick up your wristband on Monday, June 9, you can reap the benefits all week long.
While at its core, Fusion Fest will still be a Tri-Cities-based music festival, Quinn and Cullison want its purpose to be greater than that. They envision a celebration of music, arts, and community in Tri-Cities — a festival that inspires unity, puts a spotlight on our culture, and supports local music and business.
“We’re living in such divisive times, we’d like to use this for a little bit of unity,” Cullison said in an information session on February 13.
All about Fusion Fest
The main event will feature music, vendors, and a beer garden at John Dam Plaza from 11am to 9pm on June 14.
The stage will feature a showcase of local bands, highlighting the variety of genres present in Tri-Cities. The current plan, according to Emerald Spark, is six or seven bands with sets around 40 minutes long, followed by the headlining set.
The only non-Tri-Cities band to perform will be the headliner, Fruition, a popular Americana band from Portland. The group has over 119,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and will follow up their summer visit to Tri-Cities with an appearance in Kentucky for the Bourbon and Beyond festival. There, they share the lineup with huge names like Phish, Noah Kahan, Cage the Elephant, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, and Pixies.
“Fruition was selected because they’re family-friendly and accessible, with some country, some rock… vocal harmony for the aficionados… they have something for everyone,” Quinn said at the information session on the festival changes. “Picking the headliner, we didn’t want something super niche.”
The area from the bleachers to the stage will be sectioned off for attendees with wristbands, and the rest of the main event will be free to access.
Quinn and Cullison hope to have a small side stage in the free section, closer to the police department, for children’s performing groups.
While they’re still determining what the exact pricing model will be, Emerald Spark is aiming to have wristbands for around $30. The price will include all the discounts and smaller events leading up to the 14th, and closer access to Saturday’s stage.
This updated set-up for Fusion Fest is aimed at a refreshed emphasis on the community. Fusion Fest is smaller than the Get Down in terms of the number of stages and the lineup length, for the purpose of refocusing the vision of a music festival in Tri-Cities.
Emerald Spark has stated their unofficial motto for the festival is: “For the community, by the community.”
Fusion Fest was planned with great care, keeping in mind other important events in the community. Quinn and Cullison made sure to schedule the Fest outside of graduation weekend and Pride weekend, both of which are celebrated in June.
They also communicated with Mushroom Fest and Battle Vest Fest, offering the opportunity to work together or plan separate weekends for their events at the Uptown. (Mushroom Fest will keep its traditional weekend, the first in June, and Battle Vest Fest will be in August this year.)
Based on early projections, Quinn and Cullison estimate that the Fusion Fest expenses will be less than a fifth of the Tri Town Get Down’s expenses.
Fusion Fest involvement opportunities
There are numerous ways to get involved with the new Fusion Fest. The website is still in the works, but will display involvement information soon. Keep an eye out for upcoming volunteer opportunities and other roles.
Emerald Spark is also looking for sponsorships of all sizes. They have multiple pricing options available and are willing to work with any local businesses or organizations that want to support the festival, no matter how much they’re able to put in.
Additionally, Quinn and Cullison are excited about gaining ‘wristband partners’ — businesses who will offer an exclusive deal to wristband holders during the festival week. This option is available at no cost to business owners in the general area, and the duo is encouraging businesses to get creative with their offerings.
For example, a restaurant might sign up to offer a 10% discount on special Fusion Fest dishes, or a bar might offer a cheap beer and shot combo deal, or a venue might host local musicians for a smaller event on Thursday with a cheaper door price for Fest attendees. Holding special events during the week is encouraged, offering cross-promotion opportunities and a chance to showcase what our community has to offer.
Businesses in the local area can reach out to info@emeraldsparkevents.com. Participating businesses will be included on promotional materials and festival maps, among other perks. “This is a way for us to support local businesses, and it’s a way for them to show that they support local music,” Cullison said in an info session on February 18.
Karlee Van De Venter is a full-time reporter at the Tri-City Herald who contributes Arts and Entertainment coverage for Tumbleweird. Through a co-publication agreement, this content may also appear in the Herald. For more local music coverage, follow @KarleeVNews on Instagram.
