WildAcreLive
Wild Acre Live
Fortress Festival didn't happen in 2020, and neither will it be happening in 2021 — but what is happening is the launch of a new music venue by the festival's producers and Wild Acre Brewing Company.
Fortress Presents has partnered with Wild Acre to create Wild Acre Live, a multi-stage live venue complex located at the original brewery at 1734 E. El Paso St. The venue will host both local artists and national touring acts, and can also be rented out to the general public for events like weddings, conferences, and corporate gatherings.
Like Fortress Festival, Wild Acre Live consists of two stages (a main stage and a side stage) and can host about the same size crowds as Fortress, co-founder Ramtin Nikzad says. He estimates the entire complex can carry a capacity of 10,000 people — in a non-pandemic environment, of course.
Fortress is currently seeking artists to perform at Wild Acre, though it has been a challenge as many artists are not touring, Nikzad says. Fortress expects Wild Acre Live to begin hosting concerts by spring or summer; however, the venue is open now for anyone looking to book other types of events.
"The flow of artists touring is pretty low, so [we're] just looking for the right fit and right occasion to have a grand opening," Nikzad says.
As for Fortress Festival, the event has once again been canceled this year due to COVID-19, and ticket-holders should expect an email this week with details on refunds. According to co-founder Alec Jhangiani, Fortress had considered various alternatives for the event, from rescheduling to the fall to hosting a socially distanced festival with a smaller crowd. However, none seemed economically feasible or realistic, prompting Fortress to postpone the event to spring 2022.
"Cutting it down to whatever it may be, 25% – 50% of capacity — it just changes the economics, and you're basically talking about a different event in terms of artists and production and everything else," Jhangiani says. "The other roadblock is that artists aren't touring at the moment. A lot of what we do in terms of programming and booking is based on tours being routed and the artists being able to economize their travel ... it's just one of those things where the universe is telling you [to] take a step back and wait for this to blow over."
