Since 2003, Ken Koziol has painstakingly nurtured his Tempe Music Festival. Contending with challenges ranging from inclement weather to fickle musical tastes, he’s watched the event grow from a simple idea into a high-profile annual attraction.

And, despite the economic recession, he’s hoping to enlarge it even more this year.

The two-day festival will take place April 3-4 at Tempe Beach Park. Headliners include Kid Rock, The All-American Rejects and 3 Doors Down (pictured above performing at halftime of last month’s Cardinals-Falcons NFL playoff game).

“This is the most impressive lineup we’ve ever had in terms of charted hits,” Koziol says.

Last year’s festival drew about 16,000 people. The Friday lineup, which was anchored by My Chemical Romance, drew a larger crowd than the previous year, but Saturday’s attendance was down.

“Fergie was very slow,” Koziol says. “She’s a radio darling — we got a ton of buzz about her appearance — but in terms of hard ticket sales she’s not there yet.”

This year, Koziol is promising a high-energy Friday night with Kid Rock (pictured at right at last week’s Grammy Awards), Cowboy Mouth and Valley favorites Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers.

The Outlaws, Mutemath, Shiny Toy Guns and Tom Morello will play with The All-American Rejects and 3 Doors Down on Saturday. One more act is expected to be announced.

“The economy notwithstanding, I feel better about our chances this year,” Koziol says.

To spur ticket sales, the festival is offering several thousand one-day tickets for just $25. After they’re gone, tickets will be $35 in advance and $45 on the day of show — the same price as last year.

The festival, which has been held on the south shore of Tempe Town Lake just west of Mill Avenue, also is growing physically.

Red Bull will set up what Koziol calls “a floating skate park” — featuring 20 nationally recognized wakeboarders as well as some local standouts — as the festival’s footprint expands to the east side of Mill.

A “Corona Cove,” which includes a beer garden and activities like beach volleyball, will be set up in the area between the northbound and southbound Mill bridges.

The Tempe Music Festival annually has been held in conjunction with downtown Tempe’s Spring Festival of the Arts. This year, the events have been separated.

Koziol moved the music festival back one week, putting it on the same weekend as this year’s Country Thunder festival just south of the Valley near Florence. The latter had been held in late April.

“Ironically, we’ve both moved our festivals simultaneously,” he says.

In addition, Bruce Springsteen announced a concert that Friday at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.

“We actually toyed with the idea of getting Springsteen to play our festival instead,” Koziol says. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the deep pockets of a Coachella.”

Still, the organizer remains optimistic about this year.

“The Valley has, what, three or four million people?” he says. “You’d think we could each pull 20,000.”

While Koziol admits he lost a couple sponsors from last year, the festival’s biggest supporters, such as Circle K and Budweiser, have continued their support.

“In order for a festival to work, you need a good sponsorship base,” he says. “To flip the lights on at someplace like Jobing.com is a lot easier than setting up a two-day event at Tempe Beach Park.”

Tempe Music Festival
When: 5 p.m. to midnight April 3 and noon to midnight April 4.
Where: Tempe Beach Park, 54 W. Rio Salado Parkway.
How much: $25 early-bird tickets, $35 advance, $45 day of show.
Info: (480) 970-3378 or tempemusicfestival.com.