As the Mifflin Block Party as it once was becomes a fading memory of graduating seniors, the Revelry Music Festival grew in its second year.
Revelry has begun gaining ground against Mifflin’s notoriety, introducing headliners such as G-Eazy, Wacka Flocka Flame and Dillon Francis. Ticket sales grew significantly in comparison to last year, Josh Levin, Revelry Music and Arts Festival’s executive director said.
“Sales compared to last year were absolutely phenomenal – much more than we could’ve expected,” Levin said.
Last year Revelry’s venue capacity was 3,500 tickets and with the move to Langdon Street this year, capacity grew to 7,000 tickets. The original plan was to sell 2,000 general public tickets and 5,000 student tickets, but based on large demand from students the last minute decision was made to cut general public tickets down to 1,000 and sell 6,000 student tickets, Levin said.
With the larger location and increased student sales, more than 6,500 Revelry tickets were sold, he said.
Levin said the goal of Revelry is to create a music festival comparable to Juice Jam or Dillo Day, which take place at Syracuse and Northwestern, respectively.
University of Wisconsin sophomore Daniel Kaplan performed for his second year as Lord of the Fly, and said he hopes to return for future festivals.
“The crowd was giving major vibes. Everyone who came for the concert was there to dance and everyone who came to drink on the Terrace was willing to listen,” Kaplan said. “I performed last year and I would love to perform again, hopefully on a bigger stage.”
Low prices and popular performers made the event even more fun, UW freshman Rucha Naik, who went to see Wacka Flocka Saturday night, said. Naik said Waka Flocka kept his show interactive with the audience and kept the crowd lively.
UW freshman Kelsey Nelson said the Revelry experience was worth it, especially for the student discounted tickets. She said the crowds were kept tame.
“It did get kinda crazy for Waka Flocka though, he was pretty much inciting violence in the crowd,” Nelson said. “Overall though it was definitely a great time.”
Luke Voegeli, a UW freshmen, saw Waka Flocka and Dillon Francis at the festival. He said the crowd was “crazy” and he plans on returning to the front row next year.
Voegeli said he had the chance to hang out with G-Eazy after the festival.
“He was pretty cool. Really just another guy trying to have fun and party,” Voegeli said. “He’s not as caught up in his image as you might think”
While many students could be seen around campus sporting “Long Live Mifflin” t-shirts, the street seemed considerably tamer than years past, UW student Danny Nelson, whose brother lives on Mifflin, said of his experience.
UW and Madison police declined to provide information on Sunday on any incidents or arrests during the festival.