Quincy to give $25,000 to Riverfest

QUINCY — Charles Craft had already committed to moving his Riverfest music festival from Ft. Madison, Iowa to Quincy this year.

And the City of Quincy is backing up that commitment.

Riverfest received a $25,000 grant from the BET on Q Committee on Wednesday. Craft said he was still finalizing some details for the August 4-6 event, but he is glad to be coming to Quincy.

“We want to have an event the city will be proud of,” Craft said. “I’m meeting with sponsors today (Thursday) and we have hotel rooms lined up. This certainly helps, but we still have some things to take care of.”

He said he was still working on some of the logistics and accommodating a potential conflict with an event at the Quincy Boat Club scheduled for the same weekend, but he is already saying Riverfest will return in 2023, August 3-5.

Craft held Riverfest in Ft. Madison for 30 years, but some of that city’s riverfront construction issues had made a move necessary.

The BET on Q has a $100,000 annual budget to assist organizations in staging events in Quincy. That revenue is from the City’s 1 percent Food and Beverage Tax.