The 2016 Revelry Music and Arts Festival lineup was announced Tuesday and Atlanta-based rapper iLoveMakonnen, who was nominated for a 2014 Grammy for his hit song “Tuesday,” will headline the April 30 show.
DJay Mando performed on East Campus Mall Tuesday in celebration of the entire 2016 lineup being announced, which also includes producer Hudson Mohawke, WebsterX, Finding Novyon and Davilla.
All of the acts are either hip-hop or EDM artists, which was what the student body requested in surveys, according to the festival’s Executive Director Ayla Kress. One more performer is yet to be announced, and will be decided by audience vote at the April 28 Badgeroo, a battle of the bands competition at Union South.
There are a total of six performers this year, which is a sharp decline from the 27 performers at the 2015 festival. Kress said that even though it appears to be drastically different, the main stage experience will still be the same. She said the biggest difference in performers is that Revelry only has one stage this year, as opposed to the four during the 2015 festival.
The show will also be moved indoors to the historic Orpheum Theatre on State Street, which can only hold around 2,000 people. Roughly 7,000 people attended the festival last year. These changes come after a roughly $150,000 budget cut from the festival.
Kress said the festival organizers hope it will go back to outside locations in the coming years, but there are several rules and regulations that make finding a venue difficult, including noise curfews.
She said she wants the festival to grow, so more people can attend the event to celebrate after working hard in school all year.
“We’re offering a high-caliber show at a really discounted price so that students, who obviously financially struggle because college is expensive, can have a really fun release at the end of the year to hang out and listen to amazing music,” Kress said.
The first two flash sales for tickets quickly sold out, but they again became available for sale at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Students can purchase tickets either online or directly from the Orpheum box office, which will be open on show days.
