HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — C3 Presents, the producers and promoters of large, multi-day music festivals such as Lollapallooza and the Austin City Limits Music Festival, will now work with the City of Huntsville to create a new music destination event.
In an agreement approved by city council members on Thursday, C3 and the City will create a two-day festival to be based out of John Hunt Park. C3 will determine programming and talent selection and manage all venue logistics - including on-site staff and security, as well as manage the setup and tear-down of the stages and facilities needed to contain the festival.
According to documents provided by the city, the City is allocating $3,000,000 in "loss allocation" for the first three years of the festival. In other words, the City is required to reimburse C3 Presents for any net losses, up to $1 million, each year. Unused funds will be reinvested into John Hunt Park. The City will also provide public safety and EMS services for each event as well as matching funds for marketing. The City also agrees to spend $200,000 on marketing materials for the first festival. The promoter will not have to pay rent for the use of the park.
The promoter and the City will coordinate schedules to ensure that there are no competing events, such as sports tournaments or major events at the Von Braun Center, that would stretch city services thinly.
C3 estimates the festival could bring at least 30,000 attendees. “C3’s global body of work speaks for itself, and the fact that a festival producer of their caliber is committed to developing a signature event in Huntsville speaks volumes to our reputation as an emerging music city,” said Huntsville Music Officer Matt Mandrella. “Their team is very excited about coming to Huntsville, and we’re confident they will deliver the world class festival experience our community deserves.”
The festival will be scheduled for the last Saturday in September, or the weekend before the Austin City Limits Music Festival of each year. The initial agreement is for three annual festivals beginning in 2025, but organizers say it could happen as early as the weekend of Sept. 28-29, 2024.
The 2022 edition of the Austin City Limits Festival, which was held the first two weekends in October and which had a 450,000-person attendance, had an economic impact of $447 million to the City of Austin.
The name and theme of the festival have yet to be announced. At Thursday's meeting, council member Devyn Keith said he would make it a priority that acts selected will represent the diverse nature of music appreciation in the community.