MCD chief Denis Desmond has announced that Oxegen will return this summer after taking a one-year hiatus in 2012. Not only that, it will be abridged to a two-day festival instead of three, as has been the case in previous years. It will also be moved from its traditional July slot to the weekend of the 3rd and 4th of August.
The Irish Examiner's Gordon Deegan reports that the Oxegen line-up will be announced in late February.
Meanwhile, MCD produced profits last year despite suffering a 22% decline in ticket sales to a total of €2.1 million. Desmond stated that Westlife's two farewell concerts at Croke Park and Madonna's performance at the Aviva were the concert promoter's two biggest earners of the year.
Addressing the reason as to why Oxegen has been cut by a third, Mr Desmond was quoted as saying that the overheads, such as policing and insurance costs, are extremely high and intimated that certain cost-cutting measures had to be addressed to ensure Oxegen's viability as a festival.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that Indiependence and Castlepalooza are both scheduled to take place over the same August Bank Holiday weekend. We can't help but wonder if Oxegen's choice of date will directly impact the sales for these lower-budget festivals.
