The 25th Riverfest received a $10,000 boost Thursday from the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The VCVB Board of Directors approved support for the annual spring festival after hearing a presentation from Riverfest board president Katrina Shirley. The money, which will be evenly split in advertising and cash, is double the VCVB’s support from last year. It will be paid from the VCVB’s $25,000 local event sponsorship fund.

“We’re pleased that the VCVB is going to help sponsor the entertainment, and we’re looking forward to putting on an extensive festival for Vicksburg,” Shirley said after the meeting.

In July, she had asked the board for $25,000 and repeated that request Thursday, outlining some of the musical acts signed up for the two-day street festival set for downtown Vicksburg on April 20 and 21. She said about 8,000 people attended last year’s event.

“We have Easton Corbin, the Honey Island Swamp Band, the Dirty Guv’nahs from Nashville, Band Camp, The Chill, Patrick Smith and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band,” she said. “We have a full entertainment lineup. We have headliners both nights.”

Some board members balked at contributing $25,000.

“That’s a big jump from $5,000 to $25,000,” board member Betty Bullard said. She suggested doubling last year’s contribution.

“We were set up to be an incubator (for tourism programs), not a sponsor,” board member Lamar Roberts said.

VCVB executive director Bill Seratt said Riverfest is a major music event, adding, “We are not known as a music destination despite our being on the river and between Memphis and New Orleans. I think we need to help keep this alive. We need to make this a signature event.”

In another matter, Seratt said the VCVB will hold a public launch of its new tourism marketing program at 10 a.m. on Feb. 13 at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

The board hired the Nashville-based North Star firm for $62,000 in October 2010 to do a two-phase project to reshape the city’s brand for tourism.

North Star’s project included research, insight and evaluation to determine the public’s perception of Vicksburg and developing a new strategy for marketing the area.

The company presented a report on its research in June and suggested that a marketing strategy for Vicksburg should include the city’s place in American history and Southern culture and its relationship with the Mississippi River.

In other action, the board:

• Learned that hospitality tax revenue for December was $90,477, up 7 percent over the $84,662 in December 2010.

The VCVB is funded by a 1 percent tax levied on area hotel, motel and bed and breakfast stays, as well as purchases at bars and restaurants in Vicksburg.

Seratt said the December hotel occupancy rate was 43.2 percent, about 2.1 percent higher than December 2010.

• Approved several changes in the board’s bylaws, including a provision allowing board members who are unable to attend a meeting to participate through a telephone or video conference connection.

• Learned the VCVB’s Visitors Centers had 2,204 visitors in December, 672 more than December 2010.

• Approved $1,500 in support for the Annual Run Thru History at the Vicksburg National Military Park on March 3.

• Approved financial reports.

• Approved minutes for the Jan. 5 meeting.