California might be getting another massive festival before the end of the decade. According to the Mercury News, Sonoma Raceway, about an hour north of San Francisco is seeking to change their use permit, which would allow them to host a potential festival on its grounds that could rival Northern California powerhouses Coachella and Outside Lands.
The still unnamed festival hopes to attract as many as 55,000 fans a day over four days to hear major national and local acts playing across three or four stages.
The festival would include camping for approximately 6,000 fans. Bands would play from noon to midnight and a dance tent would be open until 4:00 a.m.
The plan was unveiled at a pubic hearing of the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Commission with an almost equally sized crowd for and against the idea. Local business leaders saw the potential festival as a boon for business, but residents nearby were worried about noise, traffic and the impact on the environment.
An independent firm will be selected soon to conduct an environmental impact report that will be paid for by the Raceway.
During the year, the 1,600 facility hosts 340-days of motor sports including three major NASCAR, NHRA and IndyCar races.
The Raceway has been approached in the past to host a festival, but it never took any of them up on the offer points out Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and general manager.
"We have been approached on countless occasions by promoters who wanted to bring music to the facility," Page said. "We never took any of those seriously. This was the first time the business proposition and the philosophy were appealing to us."
"One of the things we hope to do is have a strong local presence for emerging talent and local acts from Northern California as part of the music mix, says Page. "There would be a lot of opportunities for the business community — wineries, restaurants and other vendors — to participate."
Organizers don't anticipate a festival would arrive, if approved, until 2017 at the earliest, so don't get too excited, California.
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