HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — The Huntsville City Council has approved an agreement to bring a two-day music festival to the city.

On Thursday the council voted unanimously to allow Mayor Tommy Battle to enter into a three-year partnership agreement with C3 Presents LLC to produce a music festival for the city.

Battle said the festival would be a “quality-of-life” improvement for the city while also highlighting the potential national and international appeal of the event.

“This will have significant appeal and should attract music fans from other states and possibly other countries,” he said. “The investments we’ve made over the years to John Hunt Park are already attracting large-scale sports events, and it’s also what appealed to C3 Presents. It’s the perfect venue for an event of this magnitude.”

C3 Presents is a well-known producer of large-scale music festivals. The company produces the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Texas each year as well as Lollapalooza in Chicago and its seven international editions.

Huntsville Music Officer Matt Mandrella said he is excited to see the city teaming up with C3 for the event.

“C3’s global body of work speaks for itself, and the fact that a festival producer of their caliber is committed to developing a signature event in Huntsville speaks volumes to our reputation as an emerging music city,” he said. “Their team is very excited about coming to Huntsville, and we’re confident they will deliver the world-class festival experience our community deserves.” 

The city said that the first festival is set for 2025 but could be set for as early as the weekend of Sept. 28-29, 2024. The release about the agreement said the exact timing would depend on logistics and talent acquisition.

The city said the agreement will see C3 manage all festival production matters including booking talent and organizing logistics, vendors and volunteers. The company will also be required to clean up the park after each event.

The city, on the other hand, will be required to reimburse C3 Presents for any net losses up to $1 million each year. Unused funds will be reinvested into John Hunt Park. The city will also provide public safety and EMS services and match funding for marketing the festival.