With James Dean Fest a little more than two months away, residents still are in the dark on the nine musical acts expected to fill the roster for the three-day event at the Marion Municipal Airport.
The June festival marks the 50th anniversary of the Marion-born and Fairmount-raised actor's death. Organizers plan to book three bands, with a focus on classic rock, for each day of the festival. They have yet to announce any of the acts planning to perform, however, and do not plan to do so until a full schedule is confirmed, event CEO and executive producer John Goldstone said.
"It would be wrong to get the information in isolation," he said. "It's going to be the whole package that's going to be really exciting to announce. We've got a couple of bands that are confirmed, it just makes more sense to give the whole lineup."
Negotiating with various musical acts and their agents takes time, but festival officials hope to release names within the next week to 10 days, Goldstone said.
"The process is you make an offer and they come back and they counter offer," he said. "It's not just a matter of just calling up and they turn up on the day. It's a financial negotiation."
In addition to musical entertainment, the James Dean Fest schedule also includes screenings of Dean's three films and a new documentary on a 90- to 100-foot-wide digital screen, car shows and art exhibits.
Main Street Marion is planning a three-day event downtown that will coincide with goings-on at the airport and the Community School of the Arts is staging an original show honoring Dean.
Although area residents are still waiting on a full event schedule, many had ideas about which bands would motivate them to buy tickets for the festival.
"Gretchen Wilson - some hip country chick," was the choice of Mandy Weaver, 26, Wabash. "I would be there in a heartbeat."
Her husband, 28-year-old Jeremy Weaver, was more concerned with other aspects of the James Dean Fest.
"The cars are enough for me," he said.
Inside the Sam Goody music store at North Park Mall, 1129 N. Baldwin Ave., Kevin Ogan had trouble coming up with bands from Dean's era that could play James Dean Fest.
"I'm going through the list and thinking 'They're dead, that person's dead,'" said Ogan, 22, Wabash.
Both Ogan and co-worker David Huffman, 24, thought Seymour native John Mellencamp would be a good choice.
"Mellencamp would be awesome," said Huffman, Marion. "Or Dave Matthews Band or Jack Johnson or Ben Harper. All of them have a fan base that could sell tickets."
When she moved to Indiana from Kentucky, Jama Bledsoe thought it would be easier to catch Mellencamp in concert. Ten years later, the 34-year-old Bledsoe is hoping she might get her chance thanks to the Dean festival.
"I'm a huge fan," she said. "If he was there, I would be in the front row."
At 74, Leland Buroker is the age Dean would have been had he not died in a car accident. His first choice for prospective entertainers is The Glenn Miller Orchestra.
"Or any old orchestra, I love them," the Swayzee resident said. "It wouldn't be before James Dean's time."
