Breaking: Langerado Festival Returns in 2011 to Markham Park, Ticket Sales Start Tomorrow

Homegrown success Langerado's last-minute flame-out in 2009 was one of the biggest and saddest festival busts in South Florida in recent years. With the festival having ballooned from its roots as a hippie-ish jam-down in local parks, the latest incarnation was to be a four-day monster in... downtown Miami? The would-be...

By Arielle Castillo

March 8, 2011

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Homegrown success Langerado's last-minute flame-out in 2009 was one of the biggest and saddest festival busts in South Florida in recent years. With the festival having ballooned from its roots as a hippie-ish jam-down in local parks, the latest incarnation was to be a four-day monster in... downtown Miami?

The would-be four-day booking at Bicentennial Park raised eyebrows from longtime festivalgoers. This was both for its lineup -- way more indie rock and hip-hop, way less improv-focused bands -- and for what, probably, was the most egregious change: the lack of camping.

Internet backlash was fierce, and though organizers tried to keep the ship afloat, in the 11th hour, the entire thing was canned, a move organizers conceded was due to poor ticket sales. With a number of the acts already routing their tours through South Florida, the only upside was that there was a handful of competing excellent shows that weekend, and that's about it. Langerado and its South Florida native founders seemed done for financially and as a brand.

But guess what? The many happy times created by the earlier editions of the festival must have created good karma for Langerado, because the news came this afternoon that it's back. What's more, it's returning to its roots, with just two days, October 8 and 9, in Markham Park in Sunrise.

The more concise setup will feature 22 artists over those two days, actually a small number compared to the multistage shebang of the festival's latter days. No word on the lineup, but organizers describe it as "a diverse collection of artists from indie rock to electronica to modern roots," which to us signals, perhaps, a return to jam bands, perhaps updated with "livetronica" and a few grab-bag acts to broaden ticket-buying appeal.

That's all we have for now, except that early-bird tickets "for those willing to take a leap of faith" go on sale already tomorrow, Wednesday, March 9, at 11 a.m. through langerado.com. They cost $75 for a two-day pass. After these run out, a $150 two-day pass will be available for sale starting June 1, coinciding with the lineup announcement.

Perhaps they need a guarantee of ticket sales before the biggest artists will commit? Who knows, but we'll post more details as they come. Stay tuned.

Update: We just realized that, duh, October 8 is Yom Kippur. How do you feel about this scheduling move? Will that keep you from attending?

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