The Rhode Island Philharmonic will not be performing at Independence Park this Sunday night of Labor Day Weekend, as it has for many years. It’s just too expensive.

“It’s a budget decision, and it was initially decided two years ago,” explained Town Administrator Steven Contente. “But at the last minute the Philharmonic was able to obtain a grant” to salvage the 2021 show.

This year, there was no last-minute rescue.

This issue is not the cost of the Philharmonic itself, which was paid for by a grant from the Taco/White Family Foundation. It was the cost of the stage, sound, producer, and other ancillary costs that kept mounting year over year, while at the same time the grants raised to cover at least some of those costs were drying up.

When the decision was ultimately made to cancel the event, those costs had mounted to over $40,000 for a roughly hour-long performance. “We realized that it was coming out to about $650 a minute,” said Contente. “It was crazy.”

But there will be music
There will still be a concert on Sunday, Sept. 4 — Bristol’s Concerts on the Common series will hold their season finale, beginning at 3 p.m. on the Town Common, where David Marshall and Michael DiMucci will be performing, and all are welcome to this free event.

Looking ahead, Contente and the Council are hopeful that they can bring the Philharmonic back, consolidated with either the July 4th Concert Series or RWU graduation, both of which have the type of stage and technology required to host the Philharmonic. Until then, the people keeping an eye on the taxpayers’ dollars won’t be ordering up $40,000+ of temporary infrastructure for a one-time event.

Said Contente, “It just wasn’t practical.”