Number-fest a fave of students
By Morgan Hoover
May 15, 2008
The biggest Ohio University party of the year is only days away. Five Fest will be held this Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight at the Big Red Barn on a ridgetop field southwest of Athens.
After 10,000 attended Four Fest in 2007, One Fest creator and current head of the event, Dominic Petrozzi, said he’s hoping for a crowd of 13,000 on Saturday. “Our Headline act is DJ Edski from Los Angeles,” said Petrozzi. But there will be Athens performers there as well. OU alum group Downplay and rapper Jesty Beatz will perform at the event.
“Jesty’s rocked it every year except for One Fest,” Petrozzi noted.
As for security at the event, Petrozzi explained, “We hire the Sheriff’s Department to be on-site security for us, but the government agencies have free jurisdiction so they can come in undercover. Last year they arrested six to 10 people, but we tell everyone to be smart.”
The event does have a reputation as a major drunk-fest, with some students hauling in what looks like their weight in beer, and various drinking-game paraphernalia common. It’s all BYOB, however, and no alcoholic beverages are actually sold on site.
Petrozzi said he created One Fest after his junior year at OU, during a time when no major concerts were being held. These fests, as well as the various spring street-fests, have filled a void left after the legendary OU Springfest outdoor concerts — actually sanctioned and organized by the university, with massive beer sales — were discontinued following the raising of the drinking age in the late 1980s.
“In my freshman and sophomore years, they had Derby Day, which was a fraternity party every spring,” Petrozzi recalled. “It got kicked off campus my junior year; it was lame.”
After he and One Fest co-founder Timothy Kehoe interned the following summer and learned a little bit about organizing events, they decided to throw a concert for the bands they had known throughout college.
“One Fest had 4,500 people, and we just kept the ball rolling after that,” he said.
Petrozzi owns Industry Standards, the company that produces the event. “It’s a clothing store and recording studio that Tim, myself, and a couple of other guys own in Columbus. We’ve been doing club parties and larger-scale festivals,” explained Petrozzi.
Tickets can be purchased for Five Fest up until this Friday at Courtside Pizza, Yanni’s or at various spots (including in front of the courthouse this afternoon and Friday) on Court Street from a student representative. Buses for Five Fest will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to midnight.
Last year, things got a little dicey at the end of the concert when everybody decided they wanted to get on a shuttle bus at the same time and some mace got sprayed, so concert-goers are advised to plan accordingly, and not necessarily wait till the very last bus.
Petrozzi said he’s excited that “this year we’re going to have more bands, bigger names, more buses, and more opportunities for people to get involved.” For more information go to www.5fest.com/OU/index.php.
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