Roxodus Fest Promises To Be A Blast From the Past
The 3-day fest in July offers a barrel of fun rides in addition to a retro-trendy marquee billing that includes (pictured) Nickelback, Billy Idol, Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Cheap Trick.
By David Farrell
Classic Rock fans are all ears about the recently announced 3-day Roxodus Music Fest at a rural airport close to Toronto, July 11-13.
The promoters don’t wish to be named, and the venue is someplace that no one had thought about before.
It sits near three major Southern Ontario hubs that include the Muskokas, Barrie and Collingwood. And the lineup is a head turner with Nickelback, Billy Idol, Blondie, Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alice Cooper, Peter Frampton, and Cheap Trick named so far to appear at the Edenvale Aerodrome outside Stayner, where its tarmacked surfaces once were used as a local raceway.
According to Wikipedia, the privately-owned civilian airport sports a mothballed Czech MiG and is to be the new home of the Canadian Air and Space Museum, renamed the Canadian Air & Space Conservancy.
Roxodus was created by two lifelong friends of Alan Cross who describes his role in the event as being “Minister of Information/Chief Media Mouthpiece.”
He won’t tell us who’s footing the bill, but does confide to us that the persons behind Roxodus are "two friends who have done well in the construction world having worked on some large building, oil and petrochemical projects for over 25 years.”
The impetus to jump from oil and gas to the equally risky festival business? “They saw the success of Golden Voice’s Desert Trip and decided to recreate something similar in Canada,” he says, referring to the six-day music festival that took place in 2016 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California that featured the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters, and The Who.
Continuing, Cross opines that Ontario sorely lacks in summer festivals "with so many of them—Riot Fest, Way Home, Virgin Music Fest, Edgefest, and a host of others—disappearing.
“Even the reliable Field Trip is taking a year off. Fans who want the festival experience to have to head elsewhere, like Quebec, the US and Europe."
Which brings us to the venue...
“Part of the issue for hosting large festivals is finding a space to host it. The Edenvale Airport has proven to be the perfect venue given its proximity to Toronto, Barrie, Wasaga Beach and Collingwood. The infrastructure is being developed to ensure the grounds remain operational no matter the weather conditions. The site has a lake and will easily host 40,000+ attendees.
“All the artists were paid up front, even before tickets went on sale, guaranteeing total buy-in from our acts.”
Ticket sales have been brisk “with people from all over the world (across Canada, US, Mexico, the UK, even the UAE) planning to attend.”
In addition to the music, art, food, camping, glamping, various levels of VIP service, there will be a recreational vehicle experience, helicopter rides, skydiving and more. “This is a working airport, after all. The goal to create a world-class multi-day music festival for Ontario that will return every year.”
PR is being handled by Strut Entertainment, with Neil Ryan handling the Production. Ryan has been the Production Manager at Coachella, Stagecoach and Desert Trip as well as many other festivals.
More offers are going out to acts. Expect to hear more announcements as July approaches.
The Minister of Information & Chief mouthpiece adds that “this won’t be another let’s-go-stand-in-a-field-for-three-days-thing.
“Organizers studied Coachella’s Desert Trip for ideas that will cater to all manner of audience needs: Single-day admission, a selection of weekend-long camping packages, VIP experiences, and Platinum VIP options that include private car service, chartered helicopters and float planes as potential means of transportation."
Tickets are on sale now, which include payment plans–handy for this time of year, no? Details here.
