LOS ANGELES — Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne and tour producer Live Nation broke the news at the Concert Industry Consortium in Los Angeles that their 12th annual Ozzfest tour — a 25-date tour launching on July 7 in Los Angeles — is pulling the plug on ticket prices, calling this summer's Ozzfest "FreeFest." The other Ozzfest cities as of now are San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, San Antonio, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Hartford, Charlotte, Atlanta, West Palm Beach and Nashville. A final confirmed list of cities and dates is forthcoming.
"For the last few years," says Sharon Osbourne, "ticket prices have steadily climbed as artists demand more and more money for summer tours. We certainly want everybody to make money; however, we also want the kids to be able to afford to come out and have an incredible experience. If we continued with the traditional touring festival model, we would have no choice but to raise ticket prices again this year."
Ozzfest and Live Nation will turn to sponsors to provide added support for the festival's new incarnation.
"We're reaching the same point we did years ago, when kids no longer wanted to pay for overpriced CDs," compares Sharon. "As a result, they found alternative ways of getting music. That's what's happening with summer touring in this country; it's out-pricing itself. We started this, and we want to keep it, and we want to make it bigger and bigger each year by getting bigger sponsors to be involved with the festival and underwriting the festival. That's what it's about."
Said Jason Garner, Live
Nation President of North American Concerts. "What better way to say 'thank you' to the music fans who have made this possible than inviting them to attend Ozzfest for free."
To gain entry into the event, fans will go to www.ozzfest.com or www.livenation.com to find links that will direct them to sponsor sites where tickets can be secured. More details regarding the process are forthcoming.
As Ozzfest's founder and namesake, Ozzy Osbourne will make his return to the headlining position on this year's mainstage after performing last year on the second stage at a handful of dates.
Sharon Osbourne points out, "We know there aren't any major headlining acts that would tour all summer for nothing, but we're confident we can turn some of the genre's biggest bands on to what we're doing and have them come out to play a date or two. If they're in town and want the rush of performing in front of 20,000 frenzied kids, they're more than welcome to join us. They can sell their t-shirts, CDs and whatever else they've got. They're also welcome to book their own shows in local venues on the day of Ozzfest. I'm not stopping them. People have to be creative and think of alternatives."
