A new fest has been added to Spring Semester and will focus on independent bands. Rapper Juicy J will headline.
Rapper Juicy J will headline the first ever Independent Fest, a music event organized as a collaborative effort by the community to highlight independent bands.
The concert will be held March 28 at Lake Snowden, approximately five miles from uptown Athens in Albany, Ohio, and the site of the Pawpaw Festival. The festival is organized by a group of students and community members, said Mike Carson, owner of Mike’s Dog Shack.
“We have Juicy J as the headliner just to make it a big event, but what we are really striving for is to push the independent factor of it,” Carson said.
Brice Gottesman, director of marketing and social media for the festival and a Ohio University senior, said despite the fact the festival is in the first year, the biggest difference between other fests and Independent Fest will be quality of the logistics, including cleanliness and speed of admission.
The festival will be a zero-waste effort, according to Carson, as the festival has partnered with Rural Action, an environmental awareness group based in Appalachian Ohio.
Planning for the concert started last summer and the event was originally scheduled to take place during the fall but was pushed back to March.
Early advance tickets for the concert are $20 but will go up to $30 in the near future.
Other bands that will play at the festival will be announced in a couple of weeks.
Juicy J was supposed to headline #10Fest in 2012 but cancelled his performance. Carson said this was part of the reason the rapper is headlining this festival.
“He always said that he owed us one,” Carson said.
Students seemed excited about a high-profile artist like Juicy J coming to Athens, but some were concerned about how fans of the independent bands might react.
“I think it will draw attention, but it might detract from the ‘independent’ part of the fest,” said Erin Muri, a sophomore studying sociology, criminology and political science.
“I think people will go because Juicy J is there, but will pay more attention to the independent bands,” said Karris Barclay, a junior studying psychology.
Gottesman said the festival promoters are hoping for 5,000 attendees to come to the event which will offer free shuttle rides from Athens to Lake Snowden.
Several bars and stores in Athens will sell tickets to the festival. The tickets can also be found online at ticketfly.com or through one of the multiple social media outlets. These include the BP gas station on Court, Mike’s Dog Shack, @AnimalCage and @ForecastAthens.
For more information, visit the festival website at http://www.iamindiefest.com or connect with them on Twitter at @Iamindiefest. The promoters will also hold contests via social media up until the event.
@w_gibbs
wg868213@ohio.edu
