Rockville music fest slated for November at Daytona International Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH – In a welcome sign of life returning to normal, especially for music fans, the Welcome to Rockville music festival is slated to unfold in November at Daytona International Speedway.

The heavy-metal marathon, known for featuring a lineup of the world’s top bands, is scheduled for Nov. 11-14 at the Speedway, according to the event’s promoter, Los Angeles-based Danny Wimmer Presents.

The new dates for the festival — expanding the event from three days to four — were confirmed on Wednesday by Chip Wile, Speedway president.

"It's fantastic that Welcome to Rockville will be able to accommodate fans who couldn't attend in 2020," Wile said. "By adding a fourth day this year, that really speaks to what an awesome music festival this will be for the Daytona Beach area." 

Because the event is a track rental being presented by an outside company, additional questions about tickets, lineup and procedures related to COVID-19 health guidelines would need to be addressed by the promoter, said Gentry Baumline-Robinson, NASCAR spokeswoman at the Speedway.

"This is their event at our facility, so it is different from a NASCAR event in that nature," she said. "It is being managed by another promoter."    

As of Wednesday afternoon, it wasn't clear what specific COVID-19 precautions would be put in place for the rescheduled festival at the Speedway.

On the event's website, the promoter offered the following statement:

"We are committed to the health and safety of all patrons and staff. Enhanced safety measures will be in place based on the latest guidance from city, county and state government health officials and will follow social distancing protocols and industry best practices. Patrons and staff will be required to follow all safety precautions for admittance. All safety measures will be published prior to our events, posted at all entrances and enforced throughout our events." 

After nearly a decade in Jacksonville, the rock festival initially had been scheduled to make its Daytona Beach debut at the Speedway in May 2020, but that event was canceled as the escalating coronavirus pandemic caused the live music industry to come to a standstill worldwide.

The 2020 edition was scheduled to run for three days, featuring a lineup that included Metallica, Disturbed, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Godsmack, Deftones and Dropkick Murphys. The newly announced November date has been expanded to four days, with lineup and ticket information yet to be released.

When the 2020 show was canceled, ticketholders had the option to obtain a refund or defer their tickets to a yet-to- be-schedule 2021 date.  With news of the fall festival date, those holding tickets again will have the opportunity to request a refund or use those passes for the November festival. Fans who defer passes to Rockville 2021 will receive complimentary access to the newly added fourth day.

Fans can visit welcometorockvillefestival.com for more information and updates.

A long-term commitment

Welcome to Rockville established its reputation over a nine-year run in Jacksonville that showcased acts ranging from Tool to Rob Zombie. When the promoter announced the festival’s move to Daytona Beach in 2019, he said he envisioned it as a long-term commitment.

“Once you make a move, you want to stay there,” Danny Hayes, CEO of Danny Wimmer Presents, told The News-Journal at the time. “We do see the long-term potential (at the Speedway). We can get as big as we want to get there.”

For the Speedway, Welcome to Rockville represents another chance to become home to an annual music festival that can draw visitors from throughout Florida and beyond. Rockville’s Daytona Beach debut will unfold a little over three years after the last notes of the defunct Country 500 faded on a rainy Memorial Day weekend in 2018.

That event, produced by New Orleans-based Festival Productions, Inc. and industry giant AEG Live, debuted as a new festival showcasing A-list country stars in 2016.

It was the first nonracing event to be presented at the track following its $400 million “Daytona Rising” renovation. Producers released attendance figures of 75,000 in the first two years, but declined to do so in 2018 when incessant rains put a damper on attendance.

With Welcome to Rockville, the Speedway is hosting an established brand with nearly a decade’s worth of audience growth, compared with the County 500, a new concept looking to build a reputation from the ground up.

Over three days in May 2019, the festival attracted 99,000 music fans to Jacksonville’s Metropolitan Park, Hayes said. Details about expected capacity and plans related to COVID-19 health guidelines for the November concert were not included in the event’s announcement.