Post by spiderpig on Oct 10, 2010 9:54:06 GMT -5
Plans in works for Nateva Festival II in 2011!
OXFORD — Nateva Festival President Frank Chandler said plans are progressing toward the second Nateva Festival and a possible separate event featuring a single band at the Oxford Fairgrounds next summer.
"I really want to make it work here in Oxford," Chandler told the Sun Journal after meeting with the Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors on Monday evening.
Chandler was in town to present a $5,000 check to the district. It was a gift above and beyond what was paid for use of the district's buses and drivers to transport festival-goers to and from the fairgrounds. The money will be used to complete updates to the sound system at the Mark Eastman Auditorium in the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.
Chandler said he was particularly pleased that the money will be used to complete a project that had been stalled because of lack of funds. Kyle Jordan, district wide music chairman, said the project was begun using grant money and other sources, but the money dried up.
Chandler contracted with the school department for use of school buses and drivers to transport festival-goers from the Oxford Speedway on Route 26, which was used for parking, to the fairgrounds off Pottle Road. The July 4 weekend music festival won acclaim from critics across the country.
In addition to the $5,000 gift to the music department, the school district was paid about $1,800 for administrative services plus drivers were paid, including time-and-a-half pay, for their July 4 driving services, according to district Business Manager Cathy Fanjoy.
Chandler said he is in the process of bringing another festival to Oxford.
A contract has not yet been signed with the owners of the Oxford Fairgrounds, he said. That would be the first step to returning the festival that drew some 10,000 people from around the world to Oxford. Nateva featured a variety of acts over a three-day period including Furthur, Jakob Dylan and the Flaming Lips.
Chandler said that once negotiations are completed with the Oxford Fairground owners, he will approach Bob Bahre to lease the land he owns abutting the fairgrounds and Route 26 that is necessary for creating an entrance and parking. From there, agreements must be signed with Oxford for some additional land use. Other issues have to be ironed out, including getting mass-gathering-permit approvals from Oxford and Norway and determining whether the hill that was cleared last summer but declared unstable will be usable by next summer.
Chandler had hoped to lease the additional acreage on the hill for campers, but work by a construction company to clear it of trees turned into what one Norway official called "a muddy mess," and was shut down by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Chandler said it is important that the fairground owners complete renovations to the hill so that he can negotiate a lease of the property for additional camping sites.
"People want to camp on site," he said of the hundreds of campers who were forced to camp at the Oxford Plains Speedway several miles south on Route 26.
This coming summer the festival may not be held on July 4, he said. "It just competes way too much with the Fourth of July," Chandler said. Some 1,300 to 1,400 surveys were received after the event that indicated the holiday was not the best time to have the festival. Chandler said in addition to competing with fireworks and other musical events such as the Boston Pops on the Esplanade, one of the primary competitors was simply the annual family backyard barbecue.
In addition to the Nateva Festival, Chandler said he is hoping to bring in an undisclosed single-band event to the fairgrounds on a different date.
Chandler said the first year was a learning year to build the Nateva Festival. Although he expected to lose some money, Chandler said Monday night that he lost a "significant" amount of money.
Still, he said, he hopes to continue to bring music to Oxford. "You make it a destination," he said.
"We can make it work," he said.
GO FRANK! SEE YOU IN 2011!
OXFORD — Nateva Festival President Frank Chandler said plans are progressing toward the second Nateva Festival and a possible separate event featuring a single band at the Oxford Fairgrounds next summer.
"I really want to make it work here in Oxford," Chandler told the Sun Journal after meeting with the Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors on Monday evening.
Chandler was in town to present a $5,000 check to the district. It was a gift above and beyond what was paid for use of the district's buses and drivers to transport festival-goers to and from the fairgrounds. The money will be used to complete updates to the sound system at the Mark Eastman Auditorium in the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.
Chandler said he was particularly pleased that the money will be used to complete a project that had been stalled because of lack of funds. Kyle Jordan, district wide music chairman, said the project was begun using grant money and other sources, but the money dried up.
Chandler contracted with the school department for use of school buses and drivers to transport festival-goers from the Oxford Speedway on Route 26, which was used for parking, to the fairgrounds off Pottle Road. The July 4 weekend music festival won acclaim from critics across the country.
In addition to the $5,000 gift to the music department, the school district was paid about $1,800 for administrative services plus drivers were paid, including time-and-a-half pay, for their July 4 driving services, according to district Business Manager Cathy Fanjoy.
Chandler said he is in the process of bringing another festival to Oxford.
A contract has not yet been signed with the owners of the Oxford Fairgrounds, he said. That would be the first step to returning the festival that drew some 10,000 people from around the world to Oxford. Nateva featured a variety of acts over a three-day period including Furthur, Jakob Dylan and the Flaming Lips.
Chandler said that once negotiations are completed with the Oxford Fairground owners, he will approach Bob Bahre to lease the land he owns abutting the fairgrounds and Route 26 that is necessary for creating an entrance and parking. From there, agreements must be signed with Oxford for some additional land use. Other issues have to be ironed out, including getting mass-gathering-permit approvals from Oxford and Norway and determining whether the hill that was cleared last summer but declared unstable will be usable by next summer.
Chandler had hoped to lease the additional acreage on the hill for campers, but work by a construction company to clear it of trees turned into what one Norway official called "a muddy mess," and was shut down by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. Chandler said it is important that the fairground owners complete renovations to the hill so that he can negotiate a lease of the property for additional camping sites.
"People want to camp on site," he said of the hundreds of campers who were forced to camp at the Oxford Plains Speedway several miles south on Route 26.
This coming summer the festival may not be held on July 4, he said. "It just competes way too much with the Fourth of July," Chandler said. Some 1,300 to 1,400 surveys were received after the event that indicated the holiday was not the best time to have the festival. Chandler said in addition to competing with fireworks and other musical events such as the Boston Pops on the Esplanade, one of the primary competitors was simply the annual family backyard barbecue.
In addition to the Nateva Festival, Chandler said he is hoping to bring in an undisclosed single-band event to the fairgrounds on a different date.
Chandler said the first year was a learning year to build the Nateva Festival. Although he expected to lose some money, Chandler said Monday night that he lost a "significant" amount of money.
Still, he said, he hopes to continue to bring music to Oxford. "You make it a destination," he said.
"We can make it work," he said.
GO FRANK! SEE YOU IN 2011!
