LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — After a rocky debut in 2014, organizers for Jay Z's Made In America Festival said the event will not be returning to Los Angeles for 2015.
According to reporting by Billboard and the Los Angeles Times, the festival will instead be returning to its original hometown of Philadelphia and staging a free concert at New York’s Liberty Island.
In 2014, the festival was staged in both New York and Los Angeles simultaneously, but the Los Angeles edition of the festival sparked controversy about the decision to host the event in the relatively constrained environs of downtown Los Angeles. Residents complained about congestion and noise from the event and the mayor faced controversy over his decision to approve the festival's permits and the lack of public input into the decision.
“This is not at all a stepping back — this is a reevaluation of the model of going from one location to two to three,” Budweiser VP of marketing Brian Perkins told Billboard. “We’re a very ambitious brand, and we have a very ambitious partner in Jay Z, who also dreams big. And we always want to do big, bold things with music under the moniker of Budweiser Made In America.” – Staff Writers
