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A major annual music festival held in Asbury Park may have to send festival attendees to Red Bank for the main event show, but will keep the remainder of the concerts here.

Representatives from the annual Light of Day festival have reserved Saturday, Jan. 18, with the Count Basie theater in Red Bank in case The Paramount Theater is not available, said Tony Pallagrosi, who handles booking for the festival.

“That answer is in the hands of Madison Marquette,” said Pallagrosi.

Light of Day is a five-day concert series that raises funds for research and treatments for Parkinson’s disease and related illnesses. The festival started as a single concert held at The Stone Pony 13 years ago, according to the foundation website. It has since grown in to an international festival that kicks off in Asbury Park the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. day.

Last year, festival representatives booked several locations  within Asbury for shows, including The Stone Pony, Langosta Lounge, Watermark, Asbury Lanes, Tim McLoone’s Supper Club, the Wonderbar and others.

“Right now, if we have 30 shows for the festival, 29 of them will be held in Asbury Park,” said Pallagrosi.

The main event concert is the remainder in the equation.

The Saturday date reserved with the Count Basie has not yet been made firm, but that could change if the another organization seeks to reserve the same date, Pallagrosi said.

In the event the hold date reserved at the Red Bank location is requested by another organization before Pallagrosi hears a definitive answer from Madison Marquette, he would have to confirm the date with the Count Basie Theater to keep it. At that point, the Light of Day foundation will be responsible for the rental fee associated with the Count Basie.

If Madison Marquette gives word they will open the Paramount after Light of Day reps confirm the date in Red Bank, they would consider moving the event back to Asbury, but it would mean the foundation would then be responsible for rental rates at both locations.

“We may keep the date and pay rent and not do the show there, but we would prefer not to have to do that,” he said.

Tickets for the event go on sale in October. By the end of September, Pallagrosi expects he will know what venue will hold the main event show.

“We go on sale in October and I don’t see that changing this year,” he said. “By the end of September, we are going to have to know which way it is going.”

Due to a state-mandated installation of sprinkler systems in the Paramount Theater and adjoining Convention Hall — which must be addressed by the fall — Madison Marquette may decommission the building for a number of reasons, including the cost of the fire protection systems and loss of control of 600 parking spaces along the waterfront.

“Their drop dead date is the end of September, in terms of keeping the facility open as it stands now,” Pallagrosi said.

The 2012 Asbury Park shows raised nearly $300,000, according to the website. Pallagrosi said the weekend event draws around 5000 people from the US, Canada and Europe.

Pallagrosi does not think moving the main concert event to Red Bank will affect ticket sales greatly.

“I don’t think it does much,” he said. “There is plenty of public transit available” between Red Bank and Asbury Park.

The “European contingents” usually stay in Red Bank and either rent cars or take public transportation to Asbury Park for the festival weekend anyway, he said.

“It just adds an hour on the road. Though it won’t be the same back-and-forth Saturday night, from The Stone Pony to Wonderbar to McLoones to The Paramount,” he said.

[Photo at top: Bruce Springsteen and other performers on stage at the 2011 Light of Day main event concert at The Paramount Theater. Photo by John Cavanaugh, from www.lightofday.org.]

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