Widespread Panic has been announced as a headliner for this year’s Voodoo Experience festival in New Orleans, merging a pair of Crescent City Halloween traditions.
The Voodoo Experience, taking place Oct. 30-Nov. 1 this year in City Park, is entering its 11th year, showcasing New Orleans music, culture, arts and cuisine. Widespread Panic, meanwhile, has performed special Halloween concerts in the city from 1997-2002 and again in 2008. “We have discussed the idea of bringing these two…traditions together for years,” Stephen Rehage, Voodoo Experience’s founder and producer, said in a statement. “It only took us 11 years to get it done…It’s special for us to be working with them.”
Widespread Panic’s John Bell added that, “The Voodoo Experience has been kicking ass for 10 years and adding to the spell New Orleans has on the rest of the country and beyond. We’re proud to be included in the tradition. Hope it’s scary.”
This year’s Voodoo Experience will feature more than 160 acts playing on eight stages in three performance areas, dubbed Le Ritual, Le Flambeau and Le Carnival. The full line-up is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The 2008 edition of the festival included performances by R.E.M. Nine Inch Nails, Panic at the Disco, Lil Wayne, Stone Temple Pilots, TV on the Radio and many more.
Early tickets are on sale, with no service fees, at $123 for a weekend general admission pass and $396 for LOA Lounge VIP passes. INformation is available at www.thevoodooexperience.com.