22 The Courier sun • MAY 26, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com Panorama concert organizers press on for Flushing Meadows event in 2017 BY ANGELA MATUA [email protected] @AngelaMatua The festival organizers behind Coachella, who announced plans to create a similar event at Flushing Meadows Corona Park earlier last year, are intent on making the event a reality next year. Goldenvoice, the concert arm of AEGLive, began speaking with city officials in February 2014 about its plans to bring back the bustling energy and relevance that the park held during the 1964 World’s Fair. “It’s what people still talk about from the World’s Fair 50 years ago except why are we talking about something that happened 50 years ago?” said Mark Shulman, festival producer at Goldenvoice. “Why do we hold events in Flushing Meadows Corona Park honoring an event that happened 50 years ago? Let’s make one now.” In January, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz announced that the city would not issue any permit because of a lack of “an official city policy.” Katz also said that the park had never been used by a for-profit company to hold a paidadmission concert. But Goldenvoice officials say they have worked extensively with community groups to make sure the concert is not only a world-class event but one that benefits Queens year-round. Elected officials including Councilwomen Julissa Ferreras-Copeland and Karen Koslowitz, Councilman Peter Koo and U.S. Rep Joseph Crowley have openly expressed support. Community groups such as Make the Road New York, the Jackson Heights Green Alliance and Alianza de Ligas Latinas de Futbol, a soccer league that frequently uses the park, have also been vocal about wanting the concert to take place. This year, the festival will take place at Randall’s Island from July 22 through July 24. Headlining acts include Arcade Fire, Kendrick Lamar, LCD Soundsystem and Sia. Tickets range from $99 for a one-day pass to $319 for a three-day pass. Shulman said organizers have reached out to people who have attended the World’s Fair to conceptualize what the World’s Fair of today would look like. They named the festival after the 9,335-square-foot panorama of New York City that was introduced at the fair and that is currently housed in the Queens Museum. “We didn’t name it Panorama Festival just because we thought it was a cool name,” Shulman said. “We think it’s a tremendous piece of art that everyone should see and people should travel from all over the world to see it.” The festival would not only include a music component, but would also act as an art and technology festival where the top technology companies and start-ups, fashion designers and music artists will collaborate to create “only-at-Panorama moments,” he said. “Flushing Meadows Corona Park is a magical site,” he said. “It has a tremendous history, a legacy. It was built for large events. Also as a borough, Queens on the cultural side has really started to explode.” After it was announced that Goldenvoice was interested in holding an event at the park, officials expressed concerns about several components of the festival including how much of the park would be closed, how long it would be shut to the public and congestion it would cause. The north portion of the park would be closed for a total of four days, Shulman said, and organizers have met with the NYPD several times to go over logistics. The plan would include about three stages and two tents to be set up near the New York State Pavilion and near the entrance of the park as patrons exit the 7 train. This year, Panorama Festival will will invite local restaurants to sell food on site. Organizers are also working with Community Board 11 to hire local residents for the three-day event. A volunteer component will give away free tickets to 100 people who put in 12 hours of volunteer work with local organizations. This year, participating organizations include New York Common Pantry, Randall’s Island Park Alliance, East Harlem Tutorial Program and more. Next year, Goldenvoice hopes to include organizations such as Queens Museum, Hall of Science, the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Alliance and Make the Road New York, which has committed to staffing the health clinic. Organizers also said they will make a per-ticket donation to the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Alliance. “We worked very closely for a long time with many of the nonprofit organizations and those who would be impacted directly by the event and we made a lot of representations that, while we were disappointed we weren’t able to fulfill them to the level that we had, we still want to bring a benefit to them in honoring a lot of their support,” Shulman said. Though organizers have consulted with elected officials, businesses and other community groups, they have not approached Community Board 4 (CB 4), but plan to do so shortly. CB 4 previously wrote a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Parks Department asking to be looped in on any plans to rent the park out. “Before we would go to the community boards we’d want to have developed plans,” Shulman said. “Those elements need to start with NYPD, the Parks Department, Office of City Planning and we never got to that place.” Shulman said they will continue to do community outreach until the city decides whether or not to grant a permit. Official dates have not been discussed and organizers said they want to make sure that the event does not coincide with other existing events at the park. “We want to be long-term neighbors and contributors across the board and wherever we can raise awareness for the public institutions,” Shulman said. “We bring a lot of assets that can benefit the existing programs, which can also be enjoyed by the community year-round.”
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