In 1994, nearly 5,000 people attended a small, old school music festival in Mobile, AL.
At that time, no one knew how large the event would grow or how long it would last.

Amazingly, more than a decade has passed since that first Funk Fest.  And from those humble beginnings, the event has blossomed into a 5 city annual event that attracts more than 10,000 people in each city and is expected to reach a total of 15 cities by 2012. The cities that Funk Fest can be seen in are Jacksonville, FL., Mobile, AL, Baton Rouge LA., West Palm Beach, FL., and Greenville/Spartanburg SC.

Funk Fest is designed to expose and entertain a diverse audience with a variety of Old-School music.  The categories of music range from Old School R&B, Funk, Old School Hip-Hop, Blues, Jazz and Comedy.  Some of the artist that have performed at Funk Fest are, Frankie Beverly and Maze, Gap Band, New Edition, Whodini, Big Daddy Kane, Betty Wright, Rickey Smiley, Ohio Players, SOS Band, Cameo and many others.

Funk Fest was formed to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Old School Music and has grown into a celebration of human expression.  It is the mission of Funk Fest to provide the African – American community access to a means of expression that promotes social consciousness, positive entertainment and personal fulfillment.  Variety Entertainment will create these means of expression through Funk Fest which represent quality, creativity, and uniqueness.

VEP STAFF

Leo Bennett-President and CEO

Leo Bennett founded VEP Inc. in July 1994.  He is a graduate of Florida A&M University School of Pharmacy and is a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
(Upsilon Psi Chapter).   Leo has been promoting events for over 10 years in over 30 different cities across the US.

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Derrick Williams–Partner/Senior Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer

Derrick has been with VEP for over 8 years and helps run the day to day operations of the company.

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Scooter Collins - Partner/Senior Vice President/Production Manager

Scooter has been with Variety Entertainment for over 10 years. Scooter is the production manager for the company.
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Fred Scott- Senior Vice President/Marketing and Promotions Manager

Fred has been with Variety Entertainment for over 8 years. Fred heads up the Marketing and Promotions division of VEP.

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Tiffany Abraham- Vendor Partnership Manager  

Tiffany has been with Variety Entertainment for over 5 years.  Tiffany heads up the  Vendor Partnership division of VEP.  

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Ramon Broomfield - Artist Relations Manager

Ramon has been with Variety Entertainment  for over 8 years. Ramon is responsible for Artist Relations.

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Torri Toran -Operations Manager

Torri has been with Variety Entertainment since 2009. Torri is responsible for artist operations (Funk Fest) and VEP day to day operations duties.  

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