Popped! Festival And Live Nation Break Up, Festival Downsized
What a long, weird year it’s been for the Popped! Festival: First, Alexis Rosenzweig‘s festival of national and local indie bands parted ways with partner AEG. Then, reports came that Live Nation had stepped in, while plans for a giant summer festival down at South Philly Lakes — also known as FDR Park — were being finalized. Then, in the last day, news broke that Live Nation had split from Popped!, although neither has yet publicly stated any reasons for the split. In an email Rosenzweig just sent around to colleagues and previous Popped! sponsors and partners (of which this site is one), she says, “For this year POPPED! is looking to produce a much smaller free event in the summer in Philadelphia and we are currently working on what is to come in 2010.” What’s next? You’ll know when we do.
March 4th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Interesting. In my mind, smaller is better because it’s easier to feel a sense of community (which is what I think music festivals are all about aside from the music). Hopefully I’ll be able to get away from work/school long enough to catch the events this summer.
March 5th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Blergh. I mean, the festival circuit is hurting right now, but you’d think one of the two concert megacorps would be interested in the Philly metro area.
March 5th, 2009 at 9:44 am
Agreed. I appreciate what last year’s Popped did for giving the fest a national profile. But for me, it was way more fun the previous year, when the lineup was Philly-centric and venues were venues, not some field on Drexel’s campus.
March 5th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
FDR Park is an amazing space and the Packer Park Neighborhood Association are great people to work with that really supported the festival being in their neighborhood. POPPED! not being able to take place in FDR Park in 2009 due to financing that was pulled out is sad news for the neighborhood and for Philadelphia, a city that deserves an outdoor music festival that promotes the city and the largest park system in the country.