Music fest featuring Rap and EDM artists returns to Columbus with headliner Chance the Rapper
By Ellise Shafer, ’17
After a two year hiatus, Breakaway Festival is returning to Columbus Aug. 26 and 27. The music event, featuring mainly Rap and Electronic Dance Music (EDM) artists, is put on by Prime Social Group (PSG), a local event management company.
The first Breakaway Fest was in 2013, bringing artists such as Bassnectar, Kendrick Lamar and Twenty One Pilots to Columbus at Mapfre Stadium. With a new venue in the form of the Ohio Expo Center at the Ohio State Fairgrounds and a star-studded lineup including Chance the Rapper, Dillon Francis, Rae Sremmurd, Young Thug and Alison Wonderland, Breakaway is expected to generate some good times (and of course, never-ending Snapchat stories).
2016 UAHS graduate Maya Nauriyal has spent the past two years interning with PSG and has therefore watched the 2016 Breakaway Fest come to fruition. She is immensely proud to have been part of one of the first Columbus-specific music festivals.
“Columbus has a huge music scene within itself, but there are no music festivals in the city,” Nauriyal said. “Breakaway is a way to bring lots of big-name artists to Ohio. We have more recognition with music lovers, specifically for EDM and Rap.”
With a 24-act lineup consisting of both Rap and EDM artists, PSG hopes to attract a wide array of young adults.
“We wanted to create a lineup that has a well-rounded mix between [Rap and EDM] while looking at artists whose work is original and happens to also be very popular within our demographic,” Nauriyal said.
Nauriyal herself is looking forward to the festival, particularly female EDM favorite Alison Wonderland, who has acquired a large following over the past year.
“This will be my fourth time seeing [Alison Wonderland],” Nauriyal said. “Her music has had a tremendous affect on me.”
No matter who they’re coming to see, Nauriyal hopes that a shared love of music is a common theme at Breakaway Fest and can be a gateway to developing new friendships as well as discovering new artists.
“I always love the idea of people traveling from all over the country to come to events like these,” Nauriyal said. “Seeing how genuinely happy people are when they hear music that helps them escape from the real world is one of the main reasons why I am so motivated to work in the industry.”
With a two day pass being $105.22, Breakaway Fest may not be affordable for those who haven’t been saving their summer earnings. However, there are plans already in the works for next year.
“As of now, we are hoping to continue with Breakaway Festival,” Nauriyal said. “[PSG] hold[s] other festivals such as Country Night Lights and #Fest down in Athens, [but] I really think that Breakaway is a great event to bring large numbers of people together.”