Sixth annual downtown festival debuts new name

Students, parents, alumni and the Milledgeville community will once again be united this weekend as Milledgeville Mainstreet hosts its sixth annual fall festival. The streets of historic downtown Milledgeville will be filled with vendors, antique cars, judging tables for barbecue contests and a large musical stage, much like it has in the past. However, this year the festival will have one significant change from previous years.

For the past five years, the event has been known as the Sweetwater Festival. However this year, the Milledgeville Mainstreet committee decided that it would be financially responsible to drop the name in favor of the new title – the Deep Roots Festival.

The catalyst for the name change is related to the relationship between Milledgeville Mainstreet and Atlanta-based brewery, SweetWater Brewing Co. The brewery, well known for its microbrewed SweetWater 420 and Blue ales, previously had filed a lawsuit against Milledgeville Mainstreet for the rights to the name while its trademark was pending. The company used to be one of the many co-sponsors for the event and claimed after terminating that arrangement that the name came from their involvement.

“We tried to work with (the event committee),” Sweetwater Brewing Co. marketing manager Steve Farace said. “But they were going in one direction and we were going in another.”

The original organizers of the event see things differently. Milledgeville Mainstreet maintains that the name originates from a story of some of the founding councilmen of Georgia’s former capital enjoying the sweet taste which resulted from mixing local water with whiskey.

Frank Pendergast, the event coordinator of Sweetwater since its beginnings and the owner of the downtown restaurant, The Brick, maintains this historical viewpoint and is confident that it would have stood up in against SweetWater Brewing Company in court proceedings.

“We would have won the lawsuit and won the right to the name,” Pendergast said. “But they had deeper pockets, and they knew that. To be honest, the legal fees needed to defend ourselves just didn’t justify going forward.”

The committee had allocated a set amount of money in defense of the name, as it had spent years developing and promoting the Sweetwater brand. However, the group realized that even if Milledgeville Mainstreet were to successfully defend itself against the SweetWater Brewing Co. in court, it likely would not be able to recuperate its legal fees.

So, once those fees began adding up, the committee decided to cut its losses and scrap the name.

Some people disagree with the choice not to defend the Sweetwater title.

“I think Milledgeville should have fought to keep the name Sweetwater,” sophomore business major Eric Neas said. “Many people have no idea that Deep Roots is the new Sweetwater, and it doesn’t make sense to get rid of a name which has been used for so many years.”

But the decision was made. The marketing committee within Milledgeville Mainstreet proposed several new names to the festival committee and Deep Roots stuck.

“There’s no cool story to go along with Deep Roots like with Sweetwater,” Pendergast said. “Deep Roots just reflects the fact that we’re committed to our past and that Milledgeville truly does have deep roots.”

However, Milledgeville Main Street can breathe easy because the new name should not encounter any legal issues like Sweetwater did.

“The committee went through their due diligence,” said Heather Holder, executive director of Milledgeville Main Street. “An application for the trademark is already in the works.”

The Sweetwater Brewing Company remains hopeful that a relationship can exist between the company and Milledgeville Main Street.

“Honestly, it’s just old news now. It’s set and done,” said Farace. “It’s kind of cool that we are able to put all of this behind us.”

When asked if they planned on having any involvement in future Deep Roots events, Farace said, “Sure, if they want us.”

It is uncertain whether this relationship will have the opportunity to redevelop. Pendergast, like other restaurant and bar owners in Milledgeville, has decided not to serve Sweetwater at the Brick.

“We brought in Sweetwater brewery,” Pendergast said. “We were the first to order the product and we helped get them into Middle Georgia. But, at this point as a business owner, I’m not going to frequent a business that I’m not happy with. We do not and will not carry Sweetwater [beer].”

Other than the change in title, the festival will be the same as past years. From the musical main stage to the vendors, the Deep Roots event hopes to capture the same rustic and historical feel as Sweetwater did in past years.

The event has grown though. Pendergast and the committee expect 16,000 to 17,000 people in attendance on Saturday, and about 50 percent more arts and crafts vendors than last year.

With GCSU’s Parent’s Weekend planned to coincide with the festival, downtown shops, restaurants and bars should see increased business during the event.

“Some people are a little confused by the name change,” Pendergast said. “But the community is behind the Deep Roots Festival and ready to support it.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 23 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry