Get ready to go even bigger, Texas. After a record-breaking weekend in Florida—including more than 50,000 at a sold-out Monster Energy Welcome To Rockville in Jacksonville and over 23,000 at Monster Energy Fort Rock in Fort Myers -Danny Wimmer Presents has announced the first annual Houston Open Air music, whiskey, craft beer and Gourmet Man Food festival debuting Saturday, September 24 and Sunday, September 25 at NRG Park, home of the NFL’s Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Houston Open Air is the brainchild of Danny Wimmer Presents, a Los Angeles promotion/production company determined to change the festival landscape – and they’re succeeding. DWP is a producer of some of the biggest rock festivals in America, including Aftershock, Rock On The Range, Monster Energy Welcome To Rockville, Monster Energy Fort Rock, Monster Energy Carolina Rebellion, Louder Than Life and beyond. Their partnership with concert giant AEG has curated the World’s Loudest Month festival series, spanning 8 festivals and half a million rock fans across five consecutive weekends in April/May.
Earlier this year I sang DWP’s praises in a deep-dive breakdown of the current rock festival culture crisis, noting the significant steps Wimmer and Co. have taken to reformat the rock-fest scene entirely. Houston Open Air is a fertile new proving ground for such a music culture evolution, and we’re looking forward to seeing what this new festival monster has to offer.
“We’re excited to bring a new rock festival to Houston,” explains Danny Wimmer of the drive for Houston Open Air. “I have been looking at Houston for years. The market has all the elements needed for a unique destination festival: a strong rock community, a vibrant food scene, and a love of great whiskey and craft beer. We’re looking forward to bringing the Houston market a full festival experience with top rock bands, showing the rest of the country all that Houston has to offer, and helping to showcase some of the reasons that the Washington Post named Houston as one of the Top 5 food cities in America.”
Given the devastation caused by the recent flooding, Houston Open Air festival organizers are in talks with the Houston Mayor’s Office to highlight local disaster relief efforts and fundraising as well. Details of this program will be announced along with the lineups. In the meantime, they encourage people to donate to HoustonRecovers.org.
The full list of Houston Open Air music, whiskey, craft beer, and artist-inspired beverages, as well as the Gourmet Man Food lineup, will be revealed on Monday, May 16 at Noon CDT with early bird festival ticket discounts available Tuesday, May 17 at Noon CDT via the Houston Open Air website.
