*5Fest raw video footage to be posted tomorrow*
By Natalie McGee
The Post
May 19, 2008
Click here for the original story
Olivia Hogan, a junior from Athens, and Abby Stout, a sophomore from Cleveland (on ground), mud wrestle this weekend amidst the rain at Five Fest. It is a popular event for musicians and vendors to book each year, because of the high turnout — 15,000 tickets were sold to Five Fest this year. Photo by Alicia Fidler, for The Post.
Five Fest, the fifth in a series of annual outdoor fests, was marked by the same antics that draw students to the field year after year.
It’s not the actual music that makes people want to attend the fest; it’s the idea of just partying in a field with friends, said Will Strome, a senior journalism major.
“If there was an iPod connected to the speakers, people would come anyway,” Stome said, adding, “It’s the outdoor aura.”
Although the 15,000 ticket holders are happy to party at the Big Red Barn — about three miles from campus — they might not realize the months the organizing team puts into the fest each year.
Five Fest founder Dominic Petrozzi pays Brad Ervine well for using his cattle field, which Petrozzi cleans up, Ervine said. Petrozzi has coordinated the fest since his senior year at Ohio University as a sports industry/marketing major. This year, he started talking to vendors, sponsors and bands in February.
Five Fest organizers sorted through the 74 bands that applied for 12 available slots to perform. Many of the bands that applied to play at Five Fest heard about the event through Petrozzi’s record company, Industry Standard.
Petrozzi only advertises on Facebook, MySpace and the fest’s Web site, which are geared mostly toward potential ticket-buyers rather than vendors or bands.
The vendors ask Petrozzi if they can sell at his fest rather than him approaching them. They see the fest as an opportunity to sell to multitudes of guests.
“With 11,000 people, it’s hard to pass-up,” said Joyce Cunningham of the Burrito Buggy, which made its first appearance at a fest this year. About 10,000 tickets were sold last year, according to the fest’s Web site.
Five Fest paid for 20 deputies from the Athens County Sheriffs Office, up from last year’s six deputies. The patrol was increased to control drunk driving, said Athens County Sheriffs Office Deputy John Morris.
“The deputies are a little steep. … We are spending over eight grand this year on deputies,” Petrozzi said.
Fest organizers have hired members of the football team for security since the first year, he said.
“I use them for two reasons: Number one, they’re big, and number two, they’re good guys,” Petrozzi said.
Fest staff keeps the crowd entering the field under control and cards guests carrying alcohol.
“In the beginning, the football team is a big help; unfortunately, they are allowed to drink and at night, they’re not of much use. … It’s not good to mix security and drinking,” Morris said.
The football team is not the only group who gradually became less organized; the atmosphere became increasingly hectic as the night progressed.
Mud wrestling, riots surrounding the shuttles and excessive drinking marked the night. As the crowds were trying to get onto the shuttle from Court Street at 4 p.m., the driver had to yell at the crowd to move the party-goers away from the bus so departing guests could get off first.
“The buses are brutal; they aren’t bad on the way here, they’re pretty convenient, just on the way back everyone is leaving at the same time — it’s terrible,” said Strome.
Despite bus confusion and mud-saturated clothing, students and other people continue to come to Petrozzi’s annual fest.
“Students at OU have made the event what it is,” Petrozzi said. “The fest is OU’s party.”
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