Where should Summer Fest go from here?
Music fans are still feeling frustration from the cancellation of Free Press Summer Fest Sunday, after dangerous weather compromised the situation at Eleanor Tinsley Park, on the banks of Buffalo Bayou downtown. While there will always be people grumbling about unfortunate circumstances, the dialogue — especially on social media — is a little different this time, with people complaining about how the festival, which has had weather interruptions each of the past four years, needs to be either moved to a new time of year or a new location.
Monday FPSF officials only said that there is “no information to share at this time” regarding any such changes. So we asked Chronicle music writers Joey Guerra and Andrew Dansby to speculate about FPSF’s need to change. Here’s the exchange:
Another year of Free Press Summer Fest, another weekend marred by unsupportive weather. Today, the upset festivalgoers and Monday Morning News Quarterbacks are saying the festival should be moved to a different week/month/time. Your thoughts on this?
Andrew: As for the location, I’m torn. The NRG lot is absolutely void of character and unforgiving for such a festival. That said, it comes with minimal mud. As for the timing, I’m sure there are reasons FPSF would struggle to find another weekend: There’s SXSW in March and Jazz Fest in New Orleans at the end of April. If you move it later in the summer, Houston becomes
a furnace. Day for Night has a good thing going in December. I thought the defunct Ghoulsfest was well-placed in October; the only trouble is nobody went.
Given its name, logistically you’re tied to it being a “summer fest.” But spring and summer here are unforgiving in different ways.
The rain has previously been an inevitable nuisance at FPSF. This year, it finally wiped things out, and that’s a bigger problem. But I don’t think having it at NRG would’ve saved Sunday. Thunderstorms are going to knock it out, regardless of location.
I also hate seeing Eleanor Tinsley Park destroyed. And it truly took a beating.
Joey: It absolutely needs to be moved to a different time of year. This is the fourth consecutive year weather has caused delays and venue changes. And in this instance, a full-on cancellation. It boggles my mind that there was no plan in place, given history and present weather forecasts, other than wait and see and keep people stranded.
I think what made people the maddest was the lack of communication. People were left holding their breath and holed up in bars or parking garages for hours with no updates after the initial Sunday delay. And even if it reopened, the lineup would have to be drastically rejiggered at that point.
I understand they were trying to figure things out and do what was best for everyone. But come on. Especially on a day when people were looking forward to Lorde and Solange, the only two #FPSF acts in my opinion with any real fire.
I’m not sure what the perfect answer is. But it would certainly work much better earlier in the year — Free Press Spring Fest!
I will say, FPSF was in a no-win situation Sunday night. But, it’s more interesting to speculate about the fest’s future than discuss realities. So, let’s play the imagine game: If you have to move FPSF to a different weekend and a different venue, where and when do you schedule it? And, do the people follow?
Joey: Andrew is right that having it at NRG might not have made a difference Sunday. And that’s why I think this whole thing needs to be rethought and refocused. There are always unknowns with outdoor festivals. But there are just too many here.
If the rain would have stopped Sunday and allowed gates to reopen, Tinsley Park would have been a mud pit. But NRG would have still been OK. There was a rain delay when it was at NRG last year, and things quickly reset back into place once it was done. It’s not the most scenic view, but I think it would allow more room for unknowns.
And what about in and around City Hall, like the shuttered houston International Festival and the successful Pride Festival? What about anyplace other than a bayou?
Andrew: February and July are, I believe, the driest months here, and graphs from weather. gov seem to support that. I suppose July fits the “summer” part of FPSF, though that’s a sweltering time to hold such an event here. I can’t think of any reason February would be a problem, unlike March, which has spring break, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and SXSW.
It was certainly a leaner festival this year, strictly by the number of performers. I wonder if that makes it an easier event to transport to other confines. But again, where do you drop it? Day for Night was creative with its choice of site. But if you stray too far, turnout could suffer.
FPSF appears to be undergoing an identity crisis, which started a couple of years ago. The planetary naming mechanism captured that beautifully this year. Sure, Saturn Stage, Mercury Stage and Neptune Stage were all back from previous years. And they were joined by Budweiser Stage, named for no planet that I know. This is no longer a scrappy little event growing into a bigger one. This comes across as a big event unsure of how to sustain itself — or what parts of itself it even wants to sustain. Even when it was growing quickly, FPSF retained some localness that was endearing. This was a Bud and Taco Bell festival.
I suppose yesterday’s washout offers a cleansing opportunity: FPSF needs to figure out what it wants to be. And there’s no time like the present to consider if that involves a new time and place.
Andrew has written that FPSF has committed itself to focus on a youthful crowd, that it understands the teenage rite of passage isn’t necessarily the acquisition of a driver’s license, but attending festivals like this. So, with that in mind, what’s the best staging in the Houston metro area for a youthcentric music festival?
Joey: I really don’t think the venue matters much to festivalgoers if the lineup is right. That’s really the issue for them. Along with loyalty. All over social media, they felt really burned by organizers over the lack of preparedness and the lack of communication once it was delayed.
I think you could keep it where it is and do it in February. Or even April. But please, don’t put three stages near each other and then one way over on the other side of the park, with almost nothing interesting in between other than a Top Golf booth and a DSW pop-up shoe store.
Andrew: That’s a good question. I’m showing my age here, but I knew several people who didn’t go to the festival but asked me for advice about arranging pick-up for their kids. Ultimately, I think a younger audience will find the festival, regardless of location. But I can’t think of a person my age that I know who would travel outside the Loop for this event.
I’ve seen a metal festival at Sam Houston Race Park. That was as unforgiving a space as NRG’s lot for this type of festival. The Houston Whatever Fest is creatively laid out east of downtown, but that said, its footprint has a limited capacity.
I can’t think of a natural spot for it. This year’s FPSF footprint was almost a hybrid of previous FPSF events and the Houston International Fest, which was noticeably smaller.
Also to Joey’s point, I heard a lot of grumbling about the distance between the Planet Bud stage and the rest of the fest. That walk used to have a lot more going on: vendors, other stages, etc.
Joey: Is Discovery Green and the surrounding area a terrible idea? I feel like Super Bowl LIVE felt more Summer Fest-y than Free Press Summer Fest this year.
That was my next question: Did the Super Bowl show us that Discovery Green and the area around the convention center should be the epicenter of big, outdoor events?
Joey: I think so. And look at the Super Bowl LIVE lineup! Solange, Robert Glasper, Lizzo, Leon Bridges, Shakey
Graves, Robert Ellis, ZZ Top, The Suffers and a ton of smaller Houston acts: The Tontons, Wild Moccasins, Los Skarnales, Nick Gaitan, Fat Tony, Buxton, Wrestlers, Say Girl Say, Catch Fever and -Us.
Super Bowl LIVE really stole a lot of FPSF’s thunder. It played out like what FPSP should have been. And locals got love throughout the day and night, exhibits were interesting and fun, and it appealed to a diverse crowd.
Andrew: I imagine you’d need to scale things way back to make it work at Discovery Green. Have they hosted anything at DiscoGreen with multiple stages? That was the one advantage to Tinsley; Allen Parkway provided room for the masses to spill over and the contours of that part of town allow them to drop stages in various spots.
The shows at Discovery Green were big, but they also had to cap the number of people allowed in.
On the plus side, Discovery Green is closer to the train.
OK, final questions: What does FPSF look like next year? Where is it located? When is it? What does the lineup feel like?
Joey: My gut tells me they will keep it at Tinsley. Maybe move it to sometime in May? Or they’ll keep it as is and announce in advance an emergency plan in case of weather. But it just feels like they’re not really listening to the complaints. If people keep showing up, that tells them nothing is really wrong.
As for the lineup, I’d love to say there will be some big shift. And I imagine they might throw in a few big “wow” players to impress people. But again, I don’t think it changes too much. The problem is FPSF is a follower in the endless line of festivals. And to really make impact, it needs to be a visionary, a leader.
A family affair lineup featuring Beyoncé, Solange, Jay-Z and a Destiny’s Child reunion. That would make me sweat through a little bad weather.
Andrew: I think the perpetual renewal of the lower end of the age demographic means it will keep happening. Attendance looked lighter even before the rains, but you’re still talking tens of thousands of people. If you count the block parties that birthed FPSF, this brand recognition has been in development for over a decade. You can’t build that sort of recognition, so I expect adaptations but not an abandonment of the brand.
As for where and when … I have a feeling it’s not moving on either count. I expect next year to look like this year: a lineup that reflects an emphasis on the young attendees, held in late May or early June and back at Tinsley with lots of fingers crossed regarding the weather. It’ll be the 10th year, so maybe there’s a natural revamp in store, but I don’t anticipate anything too drastic.