Bonnaroo rolls back to town this week with its cornucopic circus of song, comedy, succulent and gritty smells.
The 12-year relationship between the festival and and this community has been nothing less than remarkable.
In that time, Coffee and surrounding counties have been th benefactors of the Bonnaroo bump, and according to a recent study, that’s a big bump.
Over $51 million pours into the area leading up to and during the four-day fest. That’s in real dollars, according to the survey. And while many locally often ask, “Where’s all the Bonnaroo money?”, the fact remains that it is all  around us.
Just because grand strokes of government projects haven’t sprung up, or tax rates haven’t fallen, doesn’t mean the money is invisible.
To ponder the notion of, “What would we have done without the Bonnaroo money during the Great Recession?”, might be a better path of reason.
The worst economy in 75 years, reductions in droves at Arnold Center, and a score of business closing, didn’t take too much from our bottom line. It’s not hard to divine the tea leaves and know what went on here over the past five years.
But what must happen now is a that as a community as well as our local governments, should embrace the business potential that the region has to become a destination location for entertainment.
The Musictree Festival that just finished up in Manchester is one attempt to spark a culture and economy around the sonic and fiscal fortunes of Bonnaroo and the name that it has given Manchester, Tenn.
Our future may not be so hitched to the rockets as it will be the rock stars. This could be Manchester 2.0.