Vail Soul Music Festival taking year off to re-evaluate

Colorado's only soul music festival is making a one-year commitment to re-evaluate positioning to improve the experience for the audience, local community and strategic partners. An enhanced Vail Soul Music Festival will return the in summer of 2014.

"It was not an easy decision let the festival return in 2014 instead of this summer," said Rhonda July Jackson, founder and curator of the Vail Soul Music Festival. "We are really proud of the event and it is for this reason that we want to give ourselves time to reflect upon how to provide a greater experience for our fans, as well as attract the best possible partners to assist."

With a primary focus on a deeper level of community engagement and identifying benefits to local businesses, the event organizers plan to work with the Town of Vail to gain an understanding of how to best achieve those goals, while still providing fans with the high level of experience they have come to expect from Colorado's premier soul music centered festival.

The first three years of the event successfully attracted some of the top names in the genre, including internationally renowned artists such as Raphael Saadiq, Alex Cuba, Chrisette Michele, Jeffrey Osborne, Allen Stone and Lalah Hathaway. Audience attendance included sold-out events in smaller restaurant-type venues, and registered more than 1,500 people for the main concert stage multi-day events at Vail's Ford Amphitheatre. Jackson believes that with input from strategic partnerships, not only will the music festival continue to grow audience numbers, but develop a deeper economic benefit to the town of Vail.

"Strategically we are taking this year to build and identify partners who are symbiotic with our vision. This will help us attract a wider audience and offer more engaging activities throughout Vail. In a nutshell, we are investing this year in order to move forward," reported Jackson.

Vail Soul Music Festival is committed to offering breakthrough artistry and understands the importance of bringing diversity and unique cultural aspects to Vail.

The 2014 festival attendees will experience live performances from across the spectrum of sounds that share soul music origins: Rhythm & Blues, conscious Hip Hop, Alternative Rock, Blues, Neo-Soul, poetry and Spoken Word. In addition to live music performances, Vail Soul Music Festival will offer educational forums, fitness and outdoor activities, inspirational seminars and celebratory soirées.

"Soul Music is alive-- It lives in all art forms. It's the fusion of R&B, gospel, blues and jazz-the core musical genres. The essence of soul music is artistry through story. Stories of our past, engaging in conversations about our present, ultimately shapes our future destinations," concluded Jackson.

More details will soon be released regarding the 2014 date and artist announcements. For further information, please visit www.VailSoulMusicFest.com.