OXFORD — Responding to concerns about the high cost of concert tickets, the Nateva Festival will offer a layaway plan this year to allow concert-goers to pay for the weekend in installments.

Jim Britt, spokesman for the festival, said the layaway was discussed last year but never implemented.

“It was one of the marketing steps that did not occur,” he said. After fans complained that they couldn’t afford to go, organizer Frank Chandler decided to go ahead with the layaway option, Britt said.

As for the band lineup, that announcement is coming soon. The only band announced so far is the McLovins, a teenage jam band from Connecticut that played at last year’s festival.

Britt said that unlike last year’s approach, in which bands were announced slowly over months, Chandler plans to release artists’ names in one announcement within the next two weeks. Britt said 30 to 40 bands will be announced at once, and he acknowledged that many people don’t want to buy tickets until bands are announced.

“I think the sooner we get out the band names, the more excitement there’s going to be,” he said.

Advertisement

The basic three- and four-day passes are available on layaway, which must be bought online. Purchasers will pay one-third of the ticket price when they buy the tickets, and their credit cards will be charged again on April 14 and May 30.

After the last payment on May 30, tickets will be e-mailed so concert-goers can print them at home. According to the vendor, e-tix.com, e-mailed tickets are the only option for layaway.

In recent years, other festival concerts such as Bonnaroo in Tennessee and Coachella in California have begun offering layaway plans with small fees.

For Nateva, layaway tickets are $10 higher, plus fees of nearly $23: a $4.95 layaway fee, a $14.85 convenience fee and a $2.95 venue fee.

Layaway tickets for a four-day pass, which allows concert-goers to arrive and set up their tents the Thursday before the festival weekend, are $204 plus fees, rather than $194 plus fees when purchased in a single charge. Layaway tickets for the three-day pass are $179 plus fees, up from $169 when purchased all at once.

Tickets for RV camping are also for sale. For $95, concert-goers can park an RV for camping. For water and electricity hookups, the price rises to $250. RV passes don’t include concert admission. Layaway is not available for RV passes.

Children under 16 won’t be allowed without an accompanying adult, and children under 10 get in free with a paying adult.

The 2011 Nateva Festival is scheduled for Aug. 4-7 at the Oxford Fairgrounds.

treaves@sunjournal.com


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.