CUMBERLAND — Pleased with the success of the first ticketed entertainment event at Canal Place, the Canal Place Preservation & Development Authority is planning future concerts beginning this weekend.

“The July 23 concert (featuring Bass Hound) was our first attempt at a ticketed event on the grounds, and we have only heard positive feedback about it,” said Executive Director Renee Bone at the group’s monthly board meeting Tuesday. “It went really well and the shops also said they saw a lot more people around there, and more people patronizing their businesses.”

On Sunday, The Blues Brothers will take to the Canal Place stage with their “Jake and Elwood: A Story of the Blues” show. The show will begin at 7 p.m. Crabby Pig restaurant will provide food and drinks during the concert.

“We will also begin selling VIP tickets for RailFest/CanalFest next week,” Bone said. “The whole festival will be open to the public (Sept. 25 through 27) but there will be a VIP seating area directly in front of the stage. The beer tents will also be set up near that area so VIP ticket holders will have a little easier access to them and their seating area.”

The authority plans on having approximately 200 VIP seats, Bone said. The tickets will cost $50 for a three-day pass and include $20 in tickets for food and drink at the Crabby Pig.

Tickets can be purchased at The Book Center, Visitor Center and Crabby Pig in Cumberland; Frostburg State University book stores; Life Fitness in LaVale; and Earth Zone Nutrition Center in Keyser and Fort Ashby, W.Va.

Kevin Brandt, superintendent of the C&O; Canal National Historical Park, said he hopes to get a sneak-peek screening of Ken Burns’ documentary, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea” at CanalFest/RailFest. However, Cumberland and the C&O; Canal will not be featured in the video.

“We are considered a national historical park, and Ken Burns and the filmmakers decided to draw the line at parks that are labeled national parks,” Brandt said, “but we’re hoping to use this sneak peek as a way to generate interest in what we have here. We hope this will help start discussion for the future vision of the C&O; we are a place for heritage tourism, recreation, education and story-telling about American history, but as a national park we have only just scratched the surface.”

The six-part PBS series begins Sept. 27.

Board member Susan Keller said she had visited many national parks this summer, but found some of the most memorable memories came from the small, historical parks.

Brandt agreed and said he hopes the documentary will start generating ideas for ways to make American history and natural resources come alive for people outside this area.

“We want to make Cumberland a destination place for those who enjoy going to national parks,” he said. “People travel cross-country to go to the Grand Canyon, why not here? ... a lot are already doing that to go to D.C.”

He said discussion needs to begin about how to make the C&O; Canal a memorable experience.

“People connect to their heritage and they can have a very special experience in any park,” he said. “At smaller parks they get more personal attention. People need to realize that they don’t have to go to a marquee park, like the Grand Canyon, to have a memorable experience.”

Brandt said there has been a 24 percent increase in park visitation this year and anticipates that will carry through August.

Contact Tess Hill at thill@times-news.com.