As Ohio University students gear up for the change from quarters to semesters, local festivals are greaing up for the switch as well.
“We are looking into changing the date. We have not made a final decision yet, but it is definitely being discussed,” said Tim Peacock, executive director of Stuart’s Opera House, 52 Public Square, which hosts the Nelsonville Music Festival. “We are considering changing primarily because OU and Hocking are both switching to semesters.”
This year’s festival is set for May 18-20, which is the same weekend as 9Fest and the Spring Convo Concert.
Though the change in date for the Nelsonville Music Festival has yet to be determined, 10Fest has already been rescheduled for Sept. 1. While the event’s organizers had originally planned to move the fest to the last weekend of August, they later realized students would be moving in at that time.
“Luckily, (Sept. 1) is a long weekend, so that is what we are leaning toward right now,” said Dominic Petrozzi, one of the Number Fest’s founders. “It’s not a guarantee though.”
In addition to the date change, the festival will take on a new identity following 9Fest. Petrozzi and his team are in the process of developing a new brand after creating a partnership with Columbus’s Prime Social Group, a promotional company for concerts.
“Right now, it’s known as 10Fest, but that will change,” Petrozzi said. “Our goal is to create a new brand that we can continue to push farther ... outside of the Ohio market. ”
Petrozzi also added that he is excited about the partnership with Prime Social Group because the company will help the festival move forward by giving it an upper hand when booking talent.
“It is a major merger between Number Fest and PSG, and it is a pretty big deal for the future,” Petrozzi said.
Prime Social Group was created after the owners, Zach Ruben and Adam Lynn, decided to join forces in January 2011. The firm has helped to create and organize more than 60 different events throughout the United States and the world, with acts including Kid Cudi, LMFAO, Machine Gun Kelly and Lupe Fiasco.
“The bottom line goal is to ultimately increase ticket sales and bring more people and talent down for the fest,” Ruben said. “We want to take something like Number Fest, which is already so great, and take it to a whole other level.”
He also added that he hopes the merger will help “Ohio’s best kept secret” grow in a positive way.
“We are a national company with the ability to book a great medium of acts that you can already kind of see this year,” Ruben said.
Petrozzi and Ruben also said that the expected alterations would not change the OU tradition but rather expand it.
“We want to elaborate more on the great work that Dominic has already done in Athens,” Ruben said. “He has created something that is so great for the community and the state and it’s a great opportunity.”
lf328610@ohiou.edu
