X-Fest Promoter Moving Music Festival From Modesto To Stockton
STOCKTON (CBS13) — A longtime music festival is moving out of Modesto after the promoter says he's being forced out by the city.
X-Fest is moving to Stockton after the city wooed the festival promoter when it heard about the festivals Modesto woes.
Founder Chris Ricci says Modesto's fees were going to be too high following business owner complaints.
The music festival includes a number of bands and stages and drew crowds in the tens of thousands to Modesto, where it had been a fixture for 16 years.
The event takes place on a city street and Modesto cordoned off a number of blocks downtown. Some business owners complained about the festival's noise and crowds, but Ricci says those voices were only few. He says 86 percent of businesses affected by the event signed off on it.
This year, the Modesto City Council approved a 2016 permit with strings attached. The new requirements and fees included hiring additional private security guards as well as more private emergency medical technicians.
Ricci says the fees would force him to raise the $20 ticket price, something he hasn't done since the event started in 2000.
San Joaquin County Fairgrounds officials contacted Ricci and brought the promise of ample parking and fenced-in venue to reduce security costs.