Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Escape Music Festival Moves to Governors Island After Failing to Get Permit

By Nikhita Venugopal | September 29, 2014 2:50pm | Updated on September 29, 2014 3:21pm
 Escape Music Festival, a two-day concert that was originally slated for Pier 9A at the Red Hook Container Terminal (left), has moved its location to the Governors Beach Club (right) after concert organizers failed to receive a permit from the Port Authority.  
Escape Music Festival, a two-day concert that was originally slated for Pier 9A at the Red Hook Container Terminal (left), has moved its location to the Governors Beach Club (right) after concert organizers failed to receive a permit from the Port Authority.  
View Full Caption
Jason Pierce; Facebook/GovBeachClub

COLUMBIA STREET WATERFRONT DISTRICT — A two-day concert series that was slated for the Red Hook Container Terminal has changed its venue to Governors Island after organizers failed to receive permission from the Port Authority.

Escape Music Festival will now take place on Oct. 11 and 12 at Governors Beach Club, organizers announced on their website Monday, less than two weeks before the concert.

“We wanted you to be among the first to know that Escape Music Festival has moved to an amazing new location,” they said.

“The dates and lineup are the same, but the event will now be at Governor's Island Beach Club! We're excited to announce that with this new venue we've given the entire festival a massive upgrade!”

The music festival was expected to draw 16,000 concertgoers to Pier 9A on Columbia Street, with dozens of acts as well as concession stands for food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. 

But despite beginning ticket sales and promotions for the event, concert organizers had not received final permission to use the venue from the Port Authority and were still in negotiation with the agency in July.

Festival promoters dismissed the report at the time, saying that the issue was a technicality and that they had “every expectation that the agreement will be signed with Port Authority.”

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages the Container Terminal, did not issue a permit for Escape Music Festival, spokeswoman Lenis Rodrigues told DNAinfo New York in an email on Monday.

It was not immediately clear why the Port Authority did not issue the permit, and Rodrigues referred further questions to the concert promoters.

The Terminals’ independent operator cancelled its contract due to "unforeseen regulatory pressures," said festival founder Merritt Quirk, who confirmed Escape's move to Governors Island.  

Quirk told DNAinfo New York in July that he had searched for months before finding the Container Terminal, which he deemed the perfect location.

“You’re going to see this space become a cultural hub for Red Hook,” Quirk, 33, the managing director for Balearic Entertainment, said at the time.

Governors Beach Club, a 20,000 sqaure-foot concert venue on Governors Island, did not immediately confirm the move but announced the upcoming Escape Music Festival on its Facebook page.

The concerts are scheduled to continue till midnight and a free ferry service will be available between the venue and lower Manhattan.