It’s halfway to spring and halfway between Number Fests.
That makes it #Halftime.
Or at least that’s the reasoning behind the music festival’s name change, said Dominic Petrozzi, founder of the Number Fest, as Number Fest and Prime Social Group gear up for another edition of the music festival.
“We thought it would be cool to create a new brand that captured the idea that October is the halfway point from last year’s festival to this coming year’s festival,” Petrozzi said. “It’s just October is the school year’s halftime, and it kind of touches on college athletics, football, just camaraderie of university life.”
This time around, #Halftime will partner with I’m Shmacked, a video documentary group that, according to the Number Fest website, are “known for their outrageous parties and crazy college videos.” The group will be bringing DJs Fareoh and George Garcia in addition to the previously announced lineup that includes headliner Hoodie Allen, Riff Raff, The Chainsmokers, Mike Stud, D-Why, E-Trayn and Yizzo.
Petrozzi said over 4,000 tickets for the event have been sold, and that they were expecting more to be sold at the gate.
“With the weather looking like it is going to be 82 and sunny on Saturday, we’re expecting that to pick up,” he said. “We don’t expect 15,000 to 17,000 out there like we do in the spring, but you know, it will be a solid crowd.”
To help deal with crowds, Petrozzi said parking will be different than in previous years. Attendees should park in the Athens fairgrounds and take a shuttle or a 15-seat van to the field, provided by 594-Ride.
Number Fest will again be partnering with a charity, this time with Bulldog Blitz, which Petrozzi said would be aiding in building a new fieldhouse and new football stadium for Athens City Schools.
Alex Pall, one-half of electronic duo The Chainsmokers, said the festival will be a fun opportunity to meet new fans.
“We’re definitely evolving and developing as we play bigger and better shows,” Pall said. “We love to do high-energy sets … but we also like the melodic side of it all.”
Pall said part of seeing a Chainsmokers set is understanding that the duo puts a great amount of thought into what they want to perform.
“We’re not in it for when you hear (a song) one week and it’s forgotten,” Pall said. “We’re trying to do songs that people can enjoy hopefully for a lifetime … (It’s) something that people will find interesting and people will listen to.”
ds834910@ohiou.edu
