Lil Wayne’s Lil WeezyAna Fest To Feature Travis Scott, Meek Mill In September; Larger Venue For Fifth Year

Held in recent years at New Orleans’ Champions Square, Lil WeezyAna Fest sold 7,000 to 8,000 tickets according to reports submitted to Pollstar, but the promoter intends to double attendance this year, per the announcement. Last year’s event, which featured Lil Wayne and special guests Tory Lanez and NBA Youngboy, sold 7,365 tickets and grossed $493,270.

“We’re so blessed to be celebrating our 5th year of Lil Weezyana Fest and grateful to all of the fans who have been with us since the beginning. It’s only right that we made it bigger and better this year to commemorate such a milestone in Wayne’s hometown!” Cortez Bryant, Partner Maverick & COO Young Money Entertainment, said in a statement. 

Other artists performing on Lil WeezyAna’s two stages include Megan Thee Stallion, Kash Doll, Saweetie, Melii, Leven Kali and Akbar V, as well as surprise guests. 

Tickets go on sale May 31 at 10 a.m. local time, and a VIP presale begins May 29, with various other presales including a UNO student presale as well as a Live Nation presale May 30.

Live Nation Urban vice president of business development and operations Brandon Pankey told Pollstar artist-curated festivals are here to stay; with the Roots Picnic, now in its 12th year, The Roots became one of the first acts to enter the artist-curated festival space, and maybe the first in hip-hop artist to get in on the trend.

“There’s such a tremendous value in having your own festival where you can curate the lineup and help create the vibe and energy you want,” Pankey said.

Lil WeezyAna isn’t the only Live Nation Urban event to be growing, either, with The Roots Picnic moving to a larger space at the Mann Center at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia this weekend for what Pankey says will be the biggest and most family-friendly Roots Picnic yet. 

“We are excited, but also with a little bit of a trepidation,” Pankey says of the growth. “We understand what comes with this massive growth year over year and have to make sure we deliver to our core audience and consumer that has been with us from its inception in 2008. With that, we’ve doubled the walkthroughs, the calls, the meetings, really making sure that every piece of this festival from the artist experience to the fan experience, is really taken care of and taken seriously. We want to make sure everyone has an amazing time and we think this venue is suited for us to continue to grow and thrive.”  Live Nation Urban President Shawn Gee is a partner in Maverick artist management and manages The Roots.  He was just named as one of the concert industry’s most impactful executives by Pollstar.