OXFORD — Selectmen on Thursday granted a mass gathering permit for the 2011 Nateva Music and Camping Festival, just in time for band announcements.

Festival organizers have announced they’ll release the names of bands performing at the 2011 Nateva Festival on Monday morning.

The festival is set for a Aug. 4-7 at the Oxford Fairgrounds on Pottle Road, the same location as the inaugural event last year.

At Thursday’s meeting, organizer Frank Chandler said Further, which includes former members of the Grateful Dead, won’t be returning this year.

Jim Britt, spokesman for the festival, confirmed Further isn’t on the bill, but said he’s still receiving names of bands this weekend. “It’s the classic race to the finish scenario,” he said Friday.

This year, the town of Oxford voted to change its mass gathering ordinance to notify residents near large gatherings of the permit hearing. Attendance was sparse, and one Pottle Road couple, who complained last year before the festival, showed up Thursday to express support.

“I made a big stink about it,” Deborah Wiles, who with her husband was an opponent of the 2010 festival, said.

She said in 1988 when the Grateful Dead played at Oxford Plains Speedway, “Everyone was held captive in their house.” With thousands showing up across the street from her home, Wiles had expected a bad weekend.

Wiles said when organizer Frank Chandler made promises of how he’d handle the festival last year, she was skeptical. Before the festival, she told Chandler that if it went as well as he said, “Then I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m wrong.”

On Thursday, Wiles stayed true to her word, despite several disturbances last year.

She said someone set off bottle rockets in her backyard near her woodpile. “I have a gas stove, and those gas tanks weren’t too far away,” Wiles said. “That wasn’t Frank’s fault.”

Wiles hopes for added security on her street this year, especially on Sunday night when the festival ends.

Still, Wiles said she never felt unsafe, despite living nearly across the street from the main entrance to the festival. She said each morning, Oxford Police Chief Jonathan Tibbetts went door-to-door in her neighborhood, asking residents if there had been any problems the night before.

The permit allows up to 14,999 attendees, but Chandler said at the hearing he plans to limit the event to 9,999. According to Britt, the limit “is in Nateva’s best interest given the site and our desire for a small intimate festival.”

Selectmen voted unanimously to grant the permit, which is conditional on Chief Tibbetts and Fire Chief Scott Hunter creating a plan and guidelines on ensuring public safety.

This year, selectmen raised the fee for mass gatherings of up to 14,999 people to $300, from last year’s fee of $250. The extra $50 covers the costs of notifying residents near the fairgrounds of the public hearing.

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