U.S. music festival producers Danny Wimmer Presents have announced the dates for their spring music festival lineup, including two new destination music festivals, chiefly, Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival, which will debut at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, May 17th, Saturday, May 18th and Sunday, May 19th, 2019. The event will replace the 12-year-old Rock on the Range festival, which Wimmer co-created and has seen grow into the biggest rock-music fest in America, attended by a sold-out audience of 140,000 fans in 2018. On top of a lineup featuring some of the biggest and most important bands in hard rock and metal, Sonic Temple promises a premium food and beverage selection, art installations, plus expanded onsite experiences that will be revealed in the coming months.
In addition, DWP have announced the return of Welcome to Rockville (May 3rd – 5th in Jacksonville, Florida) and Chicago Open Air (May 17th – 19th), as well as a new destination music festival in North Carolina (May 10th – 12th, with other details still TBA).
"I am so proud of what we accomplished with Rock on the Range, and we couldn't have done it without our partnership with AEG," Danny Wimmer commented. "When we started Rock on the Range, there was no other festival in America quite like it but recently it became clear that we had different visions of where to take the festival next. The city of Columbus and our devoted rock fans deserve a one-of-a-kind, world-class festival, and that is exactly what Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival will bring to MAPFRE Stadium. Similarly, DWP will welcome a new festival in North Carolina this spring at a new location in the city of Rockingham that will allow us to go all night in a more European-style setting. We will be announcing that festival's name and exact location soon. We are also looking forward to bringing back Chicago Open Air better than ever and continuing to build on the record setting pace of Welcome to Rockville."
He added, "I believe that the festival market is at a major inflection point. The proliferation of music festivals has been good for competition and caused promoters to aggressively pursue expanded entertainment and enhanced experiences. At festivals like Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life, for example, we have been able, and will continue, to rise to the challenge and push the boundaries in food programs, wine and spirits offerings, art installations and all of the other things that fans have come to expect. This growth is essential for rock festivals to hold their own against our cousins in other genres. We are about to embark on the next generation of rock festivals this spring."
