UPDATE 12/29/2015
In the ongoing development of New York City festival news, it was announced recently that key Queens leaders have joined together in support of the proposed Panorama Music Festival, slated to take place a few weeks after Governors Ball. Taking place at the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park (site of the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs), the festival is promising to be a big boost for the local community.
Congressman Joseph Crowley (Jackson Heights), and City Councilmembers Julissa Ferreras (Corona), Karen Koslowitz (Forest Hills) and Petter Koo (Flushing) have all made statements favoring the Panorama festival, citing its potential for an economic boost. “The Panorama Music Festival will provide a fantastic opportunity for Queens to take its rightful place as a New York City showcase,” Crowley stated in a press release from Goldenvoice, the festival promoter.
The press release issued by Goldenvoice, a plan is outlined for its commitment to being a sustainable partner for the park with Panorama. The festival plans to offer a three-day medical clinic for local residents (with a capacity of 1,500). Portions of ticket sales will be donated to a newly formed Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Alliance, and the local businesses expect to fair well with the influx of festival goers.
No official date for Panorama has been set yet, although rumors point to mid-June, just a few weeks after and only about seven miles from Governors Ball.
UPDATE 11/3/2015
The New York City summer festival situation is starting to look more like the Triwizard Tournament from Harry Potter. This week the New York Post reported that Madison Square Garden is now seeking permission for a major festival in Queens around the same time as AEG Live has proposed their Panorama festival NYS Music first reported below. Unlike AEG Live’s festival, MSG would keep their festival planning in NY hands. However, this would still pose a risk to the independently-run Governors Ball festival, whose organizers have launched a petition for Mayor DiBlasio to reconsider AEG’s proposal. Founders Entertainment, the NYC-based organizers of Governors Ball and Farmborough on Randall’s Island have not yet commented on MSG’s entry into the festival circuit.
Original posting:
New York City has seen a rise in the music festival scene in recent years, most notably with the Electric Zoo festival and the increasingly popular Governors Ball festival held on Randall’s Island.
Recently the promoters of Coachella, AEG Live, have been eyeing a location for a major festival opposite the East River from Manhattan in Flushing Meadows, Queens – Corona Park to be more specific. It would be one of the borough’s largest events since the 1964 World’s Fair. The organizers of the festival are showing they are ambitious, already in preliminary talks with artists who could be on the lineup.
A second major alternative festival in NYC would be a welcome addition. Governors Ball has been sold out in advance of the festival for the past few years, showing that the interest and demand for a weekend of live music is strong and even growing. As most major events do, the new festival would likely help the local economy out but could come with concerns for short-term headaches arising from festival traffic and other municipal demands.
Governors Ball, which has only been around since 2011, has claimed a stronghold in the festival scene with solid lineups spanning alternative and indie genres. Ticket demand for GovBall show that it shouldn’t be competing with what would be a similar festival taking place not too far away on the western end of Long Island. The only problem: This new festival, tentatively dubbed Panorama, may occur two weeks after Governors Ball (which has taken root to the first weekend in June) and could draw attendance away from the independently-run festival.
Founders Entertainment, which runs Governors Ball and the newer FarmBorough festival, is an independent music and brand promoter based out of NYC. AEG Live is a global sporting and music entertainment promoter based out of Los Angeles, second in scale to Live Nation.
(Some details taken from the New York Daily News.)
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