Musical festival to visit Oxford

By: Megan Burness

Posted: 4/1/08

With the help of a Miami University junior and a Columbus record label, Miami students will have the opportunity to attend Oxford's first annual all-day music festival this spring, 5Fest.

The festival will be held April 26 at Grandfather's Barn, located off Stillwell Beckett Road in Oxford.

The idea for 5Fest was brought to Oxford with the help of junior Andrew Stankus, as well as the Columbus record label and clothing store, Industry Standard.

According to Stankus, 5Fest originated at Ohio University (OU) in 2004 as an outdoor all-day music festival, originally called 1Fest.

Each year, Stankus said, the name has changed in correlation with the number of times OU has held the event. Miami's event will still be referred to as 5Fest, even though this is the first time the event has hit Oxford.

Stankus said he attended OU's version of 5Fest in the past and realized the potential a music festival like this could have at have at Miami.

"I felt like a music festival was something Miami was lacking," Stankus said. "This is why I really wanted to be a part of organizing it."

Stankus contacted the founder of OU's music fest, Dominic Petrozzi, a 2004 graduate of OU and owner of Industry Standard. With the help of two other 2004 OU graduates, Chad Baxter and Tim Kehoe, Petrozzi and Stankus are now in the process of bring the festival to Miami this April.

"We're just looking to expand the party to Miami University," Petrozzi said.

Petrozzi said that he hopes Industry Standard will eventually host other music fests at many of the other Ohio universities, such as University of Toledo, Bowling Green, University of Cincinnati and more.

Miami's 5Fest will run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and will feature 11 acts and two DJs, DJ Seif and DJ Partrick. The music will include a wide variety of styles, ranging from hip-hop, rock n' roll, acoustic and funk.

According to Petrozzi, some of the performers will include C Rayz Walz and crew, featured on season six of MTV's hit show "Made," B.YONEST, Miss Meghna, AMO , Young Wize, CAM, F.A.M. Fresh and Jesty Beatz. The rest of the band selections are still being finalized by the 5Fest producers.

Miami students will also have the opportunity to participate in an online music competition, with the winner given the chance to perform as the opening act during 5Fest. Bands can submit their music at 5Fest.com, Petrozzi said.

According to Petrozzi, the winning band will also receive $250 in cash and a free recording session with Industry Standard.

Tickets for the event will be $10 presale, $12 online or $20 at the door. Tickets can be pre-purchased at Church Street Station bar in uptown Oxford.

Industry Standard has stated that the event is for those 18 years of age and older. Food vendors will also be present at the event.

"At OU, this has been an opportunity for students to listen to music while having their own good time," Petrozzi said. "Students will bring cornhole, a football, or play other games to make it their own event."

OU grad Chad Baxter agreed.

"It's like spring break without the beach," Baxter said.

Although the location for 5Fest is off Miami's campus, the festival will provide ticket holders with free bus transportation to the site, but pick up locations are yet to be determined.

Petrozzi encourages the concertgoers to take advantage of the free transportation.

"We want this to be a really fun event," Petrozzi said. "By providing transportation we hope to eliminate any problems that may occur involving alcohol and driving."

According to Petrozzi, OU's 1Fest in Spring of 2004 had about 5,000 in attendance.

"We're putting the challenge out to Miami students," Petrozzi said. "We know how big it is at OU and want to see if the Miami students can keep up."

For more information, students can check the 5Fest group on Facebook.com or go to www.5Fest.com.