OXFORD — Nateva Festival organizers hope lower ticket prices and better timing will drive up attendance in 2011.

“There’s a lot of homework being done after year one,” Nateva spokesman Jim Britt said Wednesday. He said organizers are hoping to make the festival go more smoothly while attracting a bigger crowd.

About 10,000 attended the festival in July, although many were single-day attendees.

On Tuesday, Nateva organizers announced the festival will take place Aug. 4-7. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, Jan. 4, and passes for the weekend start at $159 plus fees, according to an e-mail to last year’s attendees. The weekend pass includes camping.

A four-day pass that lets campers set up on Thursday will go for $184 and VIP passes are $425.

Last year, basic weekend passes were more than $200. According to Britt, prices will rise as the festival approaches.

Britt said the August date was not only to avoid the Fourth of July weekend. “It’s just more accommodating to the festival schedule around the country and the bands.”

“Plus, August is when everybody wants to be in Maine,” Britt added.

“We’re not ready to release any (performers’) names at this point,” Britt said. He said more details will be released over the next few weeks. “There’s lots of great names in the mix.”

He said the festival is meant to be family friendly right down to the name. Nateva is named for Nateva President Frank Chandler’s children, Nate and Eva. “It’s an interesting niche in the festival world,” Britt said.

Chandler previously told the Sun Journal he wanted to have additional camping near the Oxford Fairgrounds. In July hundreds camped near the parking lot by Oxford Plains Speedway. Britt said organizers will announce changes regarding camping in the coming weeks but declined to give details.

In May, the Oxford County Agricultural Society, which owns the Oxford Fairgrounds, was cited by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for changes to the landscape made without permits.

They found land had been deforested without a Natural Resources Protection Act permit and water diverted without a storm water permit. The agricultural society applied for both permits after work had been completed.

The DEP granted the storm water permit but denied the permit for the deforestation.

Lance Bean, treasurer for the agricultural society, said they had worked to stabilize the reforested land and prevent erosion. “We’ve done everything we need to do,” Bean said.

DEP Enforcement Officer Colin Clark said a consent agreement, a voluntary agreement with the agricultural society that could include fines, has been drafted and will be sent in January.

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