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Updowntowners to end July Jamm after this summer
By JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star
Friday, Jan 13, 2006 - 05:24:02 pm CST

The country’s top blues, jazz and rock musicians no longer will sweat through sets in downtown Lincoln after this summer.

Nor will their fans.

Updowntowners announced it will produce July Jamm for the 15th and final time so that the volunteer organization can devote its resources to Celebrate Lincoln, one of its other signature events.

The last July Jamm is set for July 21-22.

“We’re sad to see it go,” said Misty Wendt, July Jamm chairperson and Updowntowners member. “At the same, we still want to give the community a big event. Our focus will be Celebrate Lincoln.”

July Jamm is Updowntowners’ music, food and fine arts festival while Celebrate Lincoln, entering its third year, celebrates the city’s diversity through food and music.

Updowntowners is moving Celebrate Lincoln from April to June and is adding an extra day to the festival. It will run June 9-11.

“Celebrate Lincoln will have everything July Jamm has and more,” Updowntowners executive director Deb Johnson said. “The event will provide a new spark of energy in downtown Lincoln.”

Johnson and Wendt said July Jamm has seen declines in attendance and revenue over the past four years and were the primary reasons Updowntowners decided to end the festival.

“It takes an incredible amount of work, volunteer time and financial resources to produce a high quality festival,” Johnson said. “We plan to use these resources to build on the momentum of our strongest events.”

Updowntowners will continue producing the Star City Holiday Parade as well as other smaller events such as the Downtown Performance Series.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.