Churchill Downs To Host Annual Music Festival Starting In '10
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Organizers Hoping For 30,000 People A Day,
Economic Impact Of $38M From Music Festival |
Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) and subsidiary Churchill Downs Entertainment Group yesterday announced plans for the inaugural HullabaLOU Music Festival to be held July 23-25, 2010. The festival, designed to be an annual event, will be headlined in its first year by Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesney and the Dave Matthews Band. The event will feature more than 65 acts across five stages. Ticket packages will go on sale this Friday online and at Ticketmaster outlets (CDI). In Louisville, Gregory Hall notes organizers are "hoping for crowds of 30,000 a day and an economic impact" of $38M for the region. Churchill Downs Entertainment President & CEO Steve Sexton said, "Our goal with the HullabaLOU music festival would be to make this music festival -- to the music festival business -- what the Kentucky Derby is to horse racing." The five stages will be "set up in the infield and paddock, with the main stage facing the grandstand." Ticket packages will range from $60 for a one-day general admission to $975 for a three-day VIP package. Hall notes this event is the first for CDI's entertainment division, which launched in January. CDI President & CEO Bob Evans said that by the time of the event, CDI "will have invested almost" $10M in the entertainment division, which is looking to "produce events at the four Churchill-owned tracks and other locations" around the U.S. He declined to project "how much the entertainment division might increase the company's profits" (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 12/1). Sexton said that the track "plans to close for training for at least" the three days of the festival. Churchill Downs Entertainment VP/Business Development Jim Gates said that dates for an '11 event "have not yet been confirmed for HullabaLOU but the same window in late July would be the target" (DRF.com, 11/30).
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