The Astoria Music Festival, in existence since 2003, will finally have an elegant new office downtown, thanks in part to the generosity of a local hotelier.
Festival General Manager Yvonne Edwards said Hotel Elliott owner Chester Trabucco made office space available to the group on 12th Street next to the hotel entrance, complete with a year of occupancy rent-free.
Edwards said the opportunity for office space has set in motion a tide of donations and assistance that has festival organizers feeling very grateful.
She said many local craftspeople have contributed to the office renovation, including local designer guild La Femmes de L’Ocean. The group is donating design and upholstering services that will lend a Parisian influence to the finished office.
"Astoria Builders Supply donated paint, and City Lumber gave us wood," she said. Local contractor Christine Epperson and her daughter donated their time to paint the space.
The refurbished office will have a grand opening April 12. Edwards said the event will feature refreshments and hors d’oeuvres, along with drawings and prizes.
"The fact that Chester gave it to us is so wonderful," she said. "We’re going to call it the Astoria Music Festival Center because it will be so much more than an office."
Edwards said festival board members want to work on event planning year round.
"That’s why we are spending so much energy on this space," she said.
Edwards said the festival will encourage community involvement, and will open the office during the Astoria Sunday Market, so hotel guests and visitors can browse artwork and photography that will be for sale at the center.