NEW YORK – The eighth annual Governors Ball kicked off Friday at Randall’s Island Park in New York City, unveiling changes to the festival’s stage layout as well as new alcohol selections.

General admission doors opened at 11:45 a.m., with the first acts taking the stage half an hour later. Lou the Human and Slaves (UK) opened the day’s first round of performances at the Gov Ball NYC Stage and the Honda Stage. The music festival’s venue includes two other stages, the Bacardi Stage and the American Eagle Stage.

The layout of the four stages at the 2018 event was designed to create a more open and free-flowing environment, according to the Gov Ball website. The placement of the two stages was switched for this purpose, per the site, and there’s also a new tent stage designed to put viewers within seeing distance of all four stages at once. A festival map can be viewed here.

Lophiile was the first act at the Bacardi Stage on Friday, followed by Wolf Alice, GoldLink, Tash Sultana and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley.
Leigh Ann Rodgers | Staff Photographer

Expected attendance for the weekend is 150,000, according to a Moneyish article published in January. The same article reported that Gov Ball created an economic impact of $62.4 million last year. A general admission pass for all three days costs $305.

The website also details new “21+ experiences” this year, including a different location for the liquor garden and a new cocktail bar. The garden, now closer to the main stage, and the cocktail bar, Best Kept Secret, serves four signature drinks to 21+ attendees: Gov Ball Punch, Pablo Honey, Don Julio Paloma and Aperol Spritz. A beer garden featuring Miller beers and craft beer stations will also be on site all weekend.

The What’s New page also highlights Canadian singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes’ set. He’s one of 23 artists performing Friday.

Mendes announced his performance at this year’s Gov Ball via Twitter in April, after being spotted attending the 2016 festival. His set is labeled a “special performance” on the lineup poster. Mendes performed at the Honda Stage early Friday evening.

Gov Ball runs from 11:45 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday through Sunday. A total of 22 artists are set to perform Saturday, with 21 performing Sunday. The festival is available to stream online on Twitter and on the web from 4:45 to 11 p.m. ET all three days, as well as on television each night from 8 to 11 p.m. ET via AT&T and DIRECTV.

Published on June 1, 2018 at 8:30 pm

Contact Colleen: cefergus@syr.edu | @ColleenEFergus2