City Stages

City Stages is "[[Birmingham's World Class Music Festival". It was launched ion Father's Day weekend 1989. It was founded by George McMillan and the first year's festival occupied three stages arranged around downtown's Linn Park. The festival was an immediate success with music lovers and downtown promoters. At the time the idea of holding a major music festival on city streets was relatively novel. It inspired the creation of Atlanta's Music Midtown, Chattanooga's Riverbend Festival, Mobile's BayFest, and others (several of which have been managed by McMillan's company).

Over the years City Stages has grown to a dozen or more stages occupying several blocks of the city. Between 2001 and 2003 the festival was moved to a weekend in May in hopes of milder weather and more flexibility in securing bookings. Inclement weather in each of those years contributed to mounting debts which threatened the continuation of the event. It was returned to its "traditional" Father's Day schedule and the scope was somewhat reduced (while ticket prices crept up incrementally). Talent bookings were pursued more scientifically and fund-raisers were instituted as part of a three-year plan to eliminate the festival's debts.

In 2004 the law firm of Vines & Waldrep signed on as "title sponsors", providing a significant boost to the balance sheet. Nevertheless, ticket sales have continued to fall below expectations and recent festivals have managed only to break even. The festival operates as a non-profit and awards music scholarships for high school seniors and has participated in AmeriCorps' INTUNE program in Smithfield and West End.