GREENFIELD — Organizers of SoulFest, the Christian music festival that had planned to come to Northfield this summer before shifting course amid pushback from residents, still have their sights set on Franklin County — this time, for 2024.

SoulFest organizers intend to hold the 2024 festival at the Franklin County Fairgrounds. The event is slated to be held Aug. 15 to Aug. 17, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day.

“The fairgrounds has essentially everything they need,” said Mike Nelson, president of the Franklin County Agricultural Society, which manages the fairgrounds on Wisdom Way. “It’s essentially Green River Fest with a different type of music.”

After a brief discussion on Tuesday that appeared supportive of the organizers’ proposal, the Greenfield Board of License Commissioners unanimously approved an entertainment license for the event.

The Christian music festival, which has taken place at Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, New Hampshire since 2004, was originally proposed to take place this year at the D.L. Moody Center in Northfield. However, after significant pushback from the community — particularly over the festival’s size — organizers relocated the event to the Topsfield Fairgrounds for 2023. The event was first held in 1998 at Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln, New Hampshire.

“Our event would be bigger than the town,” SoulFest General Manager Vanessa Ayersman said of Northfield’s primary objection to the proposal. She told the Board of License Commissioners that while she doesn’t believe it would have taxed the local infrastructure as much as townspeople thought, “I get that it’s a lot of people, a lot of influx into a small town.”

Northfield has a population of 2,866, according to 2020 U.S. census data. By comparison, prior to the pandemic, SoulFest saw a daily average of 6,000 attendees — a size comparable to the Green River Festival, Nelson said.

In addition to the event’s size, Northfield Selectboard members outlined seven areas of concern, including public safety, traffic and noise, in a response letter they penned to SoulFest’s organizers. The Selectboard addressed the potential for SoulFest to project noise over a large radius and argued that “nearby communities will bear the oversized brunt of the noise level.”

When the plans in Northfield didn’t work out, Nelson reached out to SoulFest President Dan Russel about using the Franklin County Fairgrounds. However, the dates didn’t align with the fairgrounds’ availability, so they started talking about the possibility of holding the event in Greenfield next year.

“They’re going to be joining us at Green River Fest this weekend to get the lay of the land,” Nelson noted.

Ayersman said SoulFest is a dry event, with food trucks and other vendors. Organizers also hope to accommodate both tent and RV camping. Shuttles to and from downtown Greenfield will also likely be arranged.

Nelson noted that the timing of SoulFest allows for several weeks between next year’s Green River Festival, making for “some good spacing” between large events.

“We’re really spurring economic development in the community,” Nelson said, noting that this festival, like the Green River Festival, would drive out-of-town guests downtown and into hotels.

Dani Letourneau, the mayor’s outgoing chief of staff, said just as they would for the Green River Festival, the city’s police and fire departments will meet with organizers in advance of the event.

“This is another ... long-term music festival,” Letourneau said, “with what I assume is going to be pretty well-behaved citizens.”

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.

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