Bluegrass on the Comstock?

     Yes, the economy has been hard on all of us this last year. So, let's look ahead to a weekend full of music and fun in Virginia City, July 9-11, 2010!
     The good news is, we have some wonderfully dedicated folks and a town that would love to see this festival return for a 6th year, on the weekend of July 9-11, 2010.
   The bad news is, we have NO funds to host this festival after last year's catastrophically low attendance (and bad weather).
   But, we're turning over every rock, and pursuing every option we can to try and keep this festival alive. We have some new ideas for cutting costs---including making it a FREE festival to all by filling the weekend with campground and motel jams and "Open Mics" at the saloons. Perhaps some evening shows at the Opera House (would have to charge $5- $10 tickets to pay the light bills and musicians). Even with these drastic cost-cutting measures, there are still costs for putting on a festival (insurance, advertising).
   So we need help. There are several ways you can help keep this festival alive:
1) drop us an email to let us know if there's even a remote chance that you would be able to attend on the weekend of July 9-11, 2010 (we don't need a commitment, just a tentative "Yay" or "Nay")
2) if you're a member of Facebook, go the the Chase Community Giving Challenge

and vote for the Nevada Bluegrass Project (again, no commitments, no $$----all that's required is that you're a member of Facebook). Click on the hand logo to get there, and enter "Nevada Bluegrass Project" in the "Search for Local Charity" box (if you're not already a member of Facebook, this won't work). It's a long shot, but Chase is giving away 5 million dollars to charities, based on the number of votes they get. Our mailing list is pretty big, and we know many of you are on Facebook, and you, in turn, have many other friends on Facebook, etc. This is what "social networking" is supposedly all about, right?
3) You could donate money directly (hey, it doesn't hurt to ask, does it?). We are a bonafide 501c3 charitable arts & education organization, and you will receive a letter acknowledging your contribution (in any amount) for your taxes. To donate, go here and scroll down to the "donate" button.

We are also working on finding corporate and local business sponsors to help, and we will continue searching diligently for possible grant sources. We would LOVE to keep this festival alive through these hard times. But if we can't muster the support, we'll have to throw in the towel.