Hoodie Allen, Riff Raff and The Chainsmokers enthusiastically headlined Halftime Fest, despite a decline in attendees.
The promoters of the annual Number Fest decided to do something a little different this fall by hosting a smaller festival before the big spring bash.
Halftime Fest was born from this idea and is meant to be a halfway point between last spring’s 11Fest and this coming spring’s 12Fest.
Since this was the first event of its kind many students didn’t know what to expect from the atmosphere or the performers.
“I didn’t know if it would be that great,” said Drew Gainey, a sophomore studying physics. “It didn’t seem well-promoted, as opposed to other years.”
It was in fact a smaller fest, said Dominic Petrozzi, founder and head manager of the fest. He said that attendance was about a third of the spring Number Fest ticket sales, with 4,000 tickets sold at the gate the day of the show.
“It is never our goal to have a smaller fest,” Petrozzi said. “But it did give us an opportunity to try out a few different things since the security risk for a smaller crowd is much lower.”
This year was the fist year that Petrozzi instituted the Park and Go system, in which fest goers could park at the fairground and ride a shuttle to the event. He added that the system helped to control traffic at the event, and it’s a feature he hopes to have at 12Fest.
Despite the crowd throwing cans and other trash on stage, the performers were excited about playing in Athens for such an enthusiastic crowd.
“The energy was amazing. I’ve never played OU before, but the crowd sure knows how to have a good time,” said D-Why, one of the emcees who performed. “I loved seeing everyone coming in from the edges of the field. It felt like the crowd doubled during the set.”
However, Riff Raff got the worst of the abuse, as he had to stop his set because too many people were throwing trash at him and the equipment.
Mike Stud, one of the hip-hop artists at the fest, said as one of the first shows on his tour, Halftime Fest was a “great experience.”
“Today was great. A lot of us have been on tours that sell ‘Hoodie Allen’ or ‘Mike Stud’ tickets,” Stud said. “But it was awesome coming together with everyone today to put on this show for you guys. The response was great.”
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