Rock the Runway: new concert series and partnership takes flight

The new Rock The Runway festival at London International Airport is being called the largest in the city’s history, CTV's Bryan Bicknell has more.

A new music festival is about to take flight in London.

Jones Entertainment Group, the organizer of the annual Rock the Park summer concert series, has partnered with the Western University Student Council and the London International Airport for ‘Rock the Runway.’

“We just feel that there’s so many students that are not here in London, Ontario in the summer- what a great opportunity to welcome them back to our community in London, and host a big musical event,” said Brad Jones, president of JEG/Rock the Park.

‘Rock the Runway,’ a two-day concert series, will run in September at the airport. While it’s open to the general public, the Western USC will use it as its PurpleFest concert event, arranging bus transport to the venue for student ticket holders.

Western USC, Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Armour, says it’s a way to bridge the chasm between the university and the city, introducing students to more of what London has to offer.

“We know that Western doesn’t exist without the city of London, and the city of London isn’t as great without Western here. So I hope we can burst that bubble a little bit, and go, like, ‘hey this is great.’ I also think that will have a cascade effect of like students wanting to stay here in the city and start to open up a little bit more and have these shared experiences beyond just a concert,” said Armour.

Airport President and CEO Scott McFadzean says it will be business as usual at the airport, itself, with at least a couple commercial flights overhead during the concerts.

He said the event will be staged at an under-utilized runway in the Northwest corner of the airport property

“We’re trying to be as much of a community-oriented airport as possible. We’re trying to really give reasons for people to come out to the airport, other than just getting on or off a flight. And you’ll see that with a number of the things we’re doing with hosting different events, hosting open houses, the opening of recreational facilities,” said McFadzean.

Organizers are billing it as the biggest music festival in London, at least in terms of venue capacity. ‘Rock the Runway’ is preparing for 25,000 fans for each of the two nights.

Jones said to expect top shelf artists.

“So, there’s certainly a business behind it, right? What with the cost of these artists, the American dollar, and they’re all factors. When you’ve got 12,500 capacity, you’re just limited in what you can produce, without charging, you know, $500 tickets. So this gives us opportunity to bring in larger names than we have even seen at Rock the Park,” explained Jones.

Jones said the lineup will be announced “in the next week or two weeks.” Rock the Runway is set for September 12 and 13.