The Bunbury Festival will take place in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 5-7, 2020 at Sawyer Point Park & Yeatman’s Cove on the banks of the Ohio River. Various artists like The Regrettes, Angels & Airwaves, The Avett Brothers, Twenty One Pilots, Marshmello, Melanie Martinez, Old Crow Medicine Show, Blackbear, Cake, Wallows, The Struts, Alec Benjamin and dozens of other bands will take to the stages on this three day festival which has brought in over 50,000 attendees total in years past.

Tickets for the show include a three day pass for $189.00 general admission, while the VIP pass for all three days costs $479.00 and includes all general admission benefits, plus separate VIP festival entrance, exclusive stage-front viewing area at each main stage, lockers with charging stations (first come, first serve), complimentary food/water, private bar with discounted drink prices, private, upgraded restroom facilities and air conditioned hospitality tent featuring a DJ spinning between main stage sets to keep the party going! While all of that sounds great, the Ultimate VIP Pass costs $1,299.00 per ticket with a payment plan available. Included in the Ultimate VIP pass would be all VIP benefits, plus side stage viewing access at each main stage (pending artist approval), four drink tickets per day and daily complimentary festival parking.

Each annual event typically features over 100 acts performing on three to six separate stages through the park. The festival was founded by MidPoint Music Festival co-founder and former Fountain Square managing director Bill Donabedian. The festival’s inaugural event took place July 13–15, 2012 where Jane’s Addiction, Weezer and Death Cab for Cutie performed. In 2018, Incubus, Post Malone and Jack White entertained the massive crowds. Last year’s festival ran from May 31 through June 2, 2019 and featured artists like Greta Van Fleet, Fall Out Boy, The 1975, Girl Talk and Run the Jewels.

In 2014, Bunbury was purchased by PromoWest Productions, an entertainment company operating out of Columbus, Ohio. The name “Bunbury” was chosen by festival founder Bill Donabedian after he heard the word used in Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest. He chose the word because he thought it sounded whimsical and he liked the definition: “to have a made up excuse to get out of doing something boring.” In Wilde’s play, the character Algernon utilizes the fictional character named Bunbury as an excuse for getting out of undesirable situations such as family events.

Photo Credit: Ekaterina Gorbacheva