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Boston Calling Music Festival Will Move To Allston In 2017

An aerial view of Harvard University's athletic complex in Allston. The complex, at 65 North Harvard Street, will be the home of the Boston Calling music festival beginning in May 2017. (Greg M. Cooper/Harvard University)
An aerial view of Harvard University's athletic complex in Allston. The complex, at 65 North Harvard Street, will be the home of the Boston Calling music festival beginning in May 2017. (Greg M. Cooper/Harvard University)

This weekend’s Boston Calling will be the last at City Hall Plaza.

Organizers of the popular music festival on Friday confirmed rumors that they're moving the event to Harvard University's athletics complex in Allston.

No one was available for comment from the Boston Calling offices on Friday afternoon, but through a press release the group said they had secured a rental agreement to hold the first festival at the Harvard-owned venue in May 2017.

Organizers also announced the event would no longer take place in September, and instead happen just once a year on Memorial Day weekend.

“Since 2013, we have enjoyed three successful years and six festivals at City Hall Plaza. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to call City Hall the festival’s home," Boston Calling co-founder Brian Appel, of Crashline Productions, said in a statement. "This change of location will allow us to expand and enrich Boston Calling while still keeping it proudly located in Boston.”

Organizers say the move will allow them to expand programming to include more music stages as well as comedy, visual art and a film festival curated by actress Natalie Portman.

"Boston Calling has generated an incredible level of excitement as our city’s premier music festival; one that brings tens of thousands of people together to experience some of the best musicians in the world," Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said in the statement. "The festival has been a pioneer in live music in New England and has truly contributed to the identity of our city. To see it grow and remain in the city is a win for everyone.”

The news comes after the indictment earlier this month of Kenneth Brissette, director of the city's Office of Tourism, Sports and Entertainment. Federal prosecutors say Brissette withheld event permits in 2014 until Boston Calling organizers agreed to hire union workers.

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Andrea Shea Correspondent, Arts & Culture
Andrea Shea is a correspondent for WBUR's arts & culture reporter.

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