Latest Chosen Few Picnic Info
The latest news for this year's Chosen Few Picnic - this is the largest House Music gathering in North America, with somewhere around 20k people in attendance last year - is that the organizers are partnering with Jam Productions to help with the logistical nightmare that the event has become. What started 20 years ago as a party in a chilly wintertime loft has evolved into something that people travel from as far away from Europe for.
Lotsa rumors going around and people ask us quite often what the story is so here is the latest verified information:
- Date and Location: This year's picnic is July 10, 2010 at the same spot as last year: 63rd and Hayes Drive, 8am to 9pm.
- Partners: On Thursday, the Chosen Few announced that they've retained the services of Jam Productions to help with "logistics, ticketing and overall production". Which leads naturally to the burning questions, such as:
- Tickets: There will be an admission fee this year (the previous 19 events have been free). It'll cost $5 before noon, $10 after 12pm, and free all day for children under 12.
- Vendor Fees: Apparently one of Jam Productions' gigs will be to organize vendors. Vendors must contact Bob Sunderland at Jam Production (bobs@jamusa.com or (312) 440-9191), and you must be on the approved list beforehand to sell your stuff at the picnic.
- Parking and Tent Space: This is a big one. The Chosen Few have listed 3 "packages" for VIP parking and tent space (or some mix thereof). If you go to their site and click on "Links" (I can't give you a direct link since it's in Flash), you'll see 3 packages. The following are direct links to each of them.
- "VIP" Tent Spot: This is the "Underground Package" and costs $50 (including 2 tickets to the event).
- "VIP" Parking Spot: This is the "Disco Package" and costs $50 for a parking spot in the east or west lot on Hayes Drive, plus two tickets to the end.
- "VIP" Tent AND Parking Spot: Both of the above, 2 event tickets for $100.
Goes without saying here - I'm not a member of the Chosen Few and have no involvement in the event outside of 5 Mag's sponsorship, I'm just reporting what the latest announcements are. The photo above is former
Warehouse and Muzik Box owner Robert Williams at last year's Picnic from
Czarina Mirani.
Are you going to this year's Picnic? Will the introduction of fees have any impact on your decision? Discuss this and more on our Facebook page.
Pimpin' Ain't Easy and Neither is Running a Festival
A pretty amazing discussion is taking place (or was - it's just about over now) on the Infinite State Machine about the set up of this year's Detroit Electronic Music Festival (sorry, "Movement") and the segregation of local artists in some cavernous dungeon known as the "Made in Detroit" stage.
The salient point that's brought up right away is this: The Festival Officially Known As Movement (TFOKAM) is no longer Detroit's electronic music festival, but an electronic music festival that happens to be in Detroit.
That isn't 100% accurate of course, but there's no doubt that the current festival organizers have put a lot more emphasis on Big In Europe acts likely to attract out-of-town ticket buyers than on Detroit's homegrown product.
The example of TFOKAM has been brought up quite a bit in the context of Chicago's Chosen Few Picnic. Unlike TFOKAM, the Picnic is free. There's also no "Vitamin Water Stage", no "Red Bull Stage", no "Movement Torino Stage". The Chosen Few Picnic isn't going to be Powered By Ford Fiesta. The Chosen Few Picnic is paid for by pre- and post-parties and passing the hat (or, actually, the bucket!) and the overruns - of which I assume there have been several over the years - are taken care of by the promoters themselves.
This obviously isn't an ideal situation - it actually sounds pretty close to what Derrick May went through when he was organizing the Detroit event, back when TFOKAM was still Officially Known as DEMF - but on the other hand there's absolutely no way Chicago artists will ever be sidelined in their own town.
So there's a choice, and expecting the promoters of TFOKAM to scale things back and place Detroit's artists more fully in the limelight ain't gonna happen. But the Chosen Few manages to attract more than 10,000 on Chicago's Southside, with minimal promotion and a budget you can charitably call "shoestring". It's a fuck of a lot of work and I'm glad I'm not the one putting it together, but the option's there in every city where there's a musical following for this kind of music.
Oh, and since I'm getting a lot of questions about it: The Chosen Few Picnic is set to go off on July 10, 2010 - location and line-up still TBA.
Date Announced for the Chosen Few Picnic
The Chosen Few DJs have announced the date and location for this year's Chosen Few Picnic: July 11, 2009 at 63rd and Hayes Drive (same location as last year). This year's guest DJs including Grammy Award Winning producer Maurice Joshua, Laurie Branch (profiled in The UnUsual Suspects) and DJ FLX of 3Degrees Global.
The Chosen Few Picnic, now in its 19th year, is a free annual outdoor event typically held 4th of July weekend in Chicago. The Chosen Few DJs are Wayne Williams, Alan King, Andre and Tony Hatchett, Terry Hunter and Jesse Saunders. More information is at chosenfewdjs.com.
Photo: Wayne Williams at the Chosen Few Picnic 2009, courtesy chosenfewdjs.com.
