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HFStival
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HFStival
The HFStival is an annual rock festival in the Washington–Baltimore area. It was held every summer from 1990 through 2006 by radio station WHFS. It was held again in 2010 and 2011 in commemoration of the now-defunct station's legacy. At its peak, the HFStival was the largest yearly music festival on the East Coast. HFStival was held at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. from 1993 to 2004; at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in 2005; and at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, in 2006. A revived version of the HFStival was held in 2024 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Though not originally called HFStival, two earlier concerts held on the Fourth of July were the foundation for the first festival and are considered part of HFStival.
HFStival began in 1990 as the WHFS Fourth of July Festival, an all-day concert followed by a fireworks display, held twice at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, Virginia, in 1990 and 1991.
In 1992, HFStival was held in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and the following year's event, on July 4, 1993, was moved to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., where it remained for the next six years. In 1993, when the first RFK lineup was revealed, some controversy arose among the station's listeners over the inclusion of the Stereo MCs; the previous events had only included mainstays of rock and alternative music and the MCs, a hip hop group, seemed out of place. Once the concert went on, however, the audience's enthusiasm paved the way for WHFS to include more artists from outside the station's normal playlist on the HFStival's stages, which, in future years, included hip hop acts, electronica artists, and such disparate musicians as Tony Bennett and the Blue Man Group.
In 1999, HFStival was headlined by Red Hot Chili Peppers, and was held at the larger M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
The 2000 festival was held at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, with a sold-out crowd of 90,000, the largest attendance ever for the festival, which is considered the HFStival's peak year. The 2000 festival was headlined by Rage Against the Machine and Stone Temple Pilots with a half-hour documentary produced by Washington, D.C.–based TV station MHz Networks and hosted by WHFS on-air personalities.
The strong ticket sales of the previous few years' festivals inspired the station to expand the HFStival, beginning in 2001, into a two-day event; between May 27 and 28, including over 40 artists. In 2002, the two-day formula was repeated to similar success.
On the first night of HFStival 2002, during a performance by Eminem, several members of the audience were injured when the crowd surged forward as the rapper took the stage. When the fans refused to obey his instructions to move back, the performance was suspended, allowing security and first aid personnel to act. The injured people removed from the crowd included five who required hospitalization and one man who suffered a heart attack. The incident cast doubt on whether the event, or the second day, would be allowed to continue – especially in light of the negative publicity the venue received when a concertgoer was hospitalized after a lightning strike at the 1998 Tibetan Freedom Concert. Eminem's performance, the following DJ set, and Day 2 of the festival eventually went on as planned.
Lagging ticket sales seemed to threaten the festival's future for a while, first when it was reduced for 2003 from two days back to one, and again when a planned second Fall Edition was cancelled following a scheduling conflict that required a change of date and venue. Several big-name artists were forced to pull out, severely affecting ticket sales.
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HFStival
The HFStival is an annual rock festival in the Washington–Baltimore area. It was held every summer from 1990 through 2006 by radio station WHFS. It was held again in 2010 and 2011 in commemoration of the now-defunct station's legacy. At its peak, the HFStival was the largest yearly music festival on the East Coast. HFStival was held at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. from 1993 to 2004; at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in 2005; and at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, in 2006. A revived version of the HFStival was held in 2024 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Though not originally called HFStival, two earlier concerts held on the Fourth of July were the foundation for the first festival and are considered part of HFStival.
HFStival began in 1990 as the WHFS Fourth of July Festival, an all-day concert followed by a fireworks display, held twice at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, Virginia, in 1990 and 1991.
In 1992, HFStival was held in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and the following year's event, on July 4, 1993, was moved to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., where it remained for the next six years. In 1993, when the first RFK lineup was revealed, some controversy arose among the station's listeners over the inclusion of the Stereo MCs; the previous events had only included mainstays of rock and alternative music and the MCs, a hip hop group, seemed out of place. Once the concert went on, however, the audience's enthusiasm paved the way for WHFS to include more artists from outside the station's normal playlist on the HFStival's stages, which, in future years, included hip hop acts, electronica artists, and such disparate musicians as Tony Bennett and the Blue Man Group.
In 1999, HFStival was headlined by Red Hot Chili Peppers, and was held at the larger M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
The 2000 festival was held at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, with a sold-out crowd of 90,000, the largest attendance ever for the festival, which is considered the HFStival's peak year. The 2000 festival was headlined by Rage Against the Machine and Stone Temple Pilots with a half-hour documentary produced by Washington, D.C.–based TV station MHz Networks and hosted by WHFS on-air personalities.
The strong ticket sales of the previous few years' festivals inspired the station to expand the HFStival, beginning in 2001, into a two-day event; between May 27 and 28, including over 40 artists. In 2002, the two-day formula was repeated to similar success.
On the first night of HFStival 2002, during a performance by Eminem, several members of the audience were injured when the crowd surged forward as the rapper took the stage. When the fans refused to obey his instructions to move back, the performance was suspended, allowing security and first aid personnel to act. The injured people removed from the crowd included five who required hospitalization and one man who suffered a heart attack. The incident cast doubt on whether the event, or the second day, would be allowed to continue – especially in light of the negative publicity the venue received when a concertgoer was hospitalized after a lightning strike at the 1998 Tibetan Freedom Concert. Eminem's performance, the following DJ set, and Day 2 of the festival eventually went on as planned.
Lagging ticket sales seemed to threaten the festival's future for a while, first when it was reduced for 2003 from two days back to one, and again when a planned second Fall Edition was cancelled following a scheduling conflict that required a change of date and venue. Several big-name artists were forced to pull out, severely affecting ticket sales.