The show will go on for the Road to Warped Tour.
The Scranton Zoning Hearing Board on Wednesday approved entrepreneur Josh Balz’s request to use a parking lot across from the Ritz Theater for the event, which is set for June 12-15 at the theater.
Balz, who owns the downtown Scranton theater, appeared before the board for “a special exception to hold an event in the parking lot with vendors and a live music stage as part of a four-day music and craft gathering event at 245-247.5 Wyoming Ave.”
He plans to rent the lot for a stage, craft and food vendors, and small rides.
During the meeting, Balz said the event is a way to thank the city for supporting the theater. He said activities will take place in the parking lot from noon to 6 p.m. each day of the tour, with the remaining events taking place in the theater. The lot will be barricaded, with licensed security guards on site, Balz added. He said he has insurance and support from neighboring properties.
“We just try to do our due diligence,” he said, adding he expects between 300 and 400 people in attendance each day. “We’re trying to do positive things for downtown Scranton.”
Balz announced the tour in April. It is an offshoot of the revived Vans Warped Tour, which had been an annual tour from 1995 to 2019 of up-and-coming and classic punk, emo, hardcore and pop punk music. The Vans Warped Tour had often stopped in Scranton at the Montage Mountain pavilion.
Balz said the event is a smaller version of the larger Vans Warped Tour.
“It’s been an integral part of my life and those in the area,” he told the board.
Balz said last month he would provide passes for patrons to use nearby parking garages during the festival. He also had hoped to close the 200 block of Wyoming Avenue for the Road to Warped festival, but learned the city required advance notice of at least a year for such a request. The street will stay open during the festival, he said.
“I would have loved to have (closed) the entire street … but I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” Balz told the board.
Multiple board members expressed concern that Wyoming Avenue isn’t being shut down during the event.
“My concern is safety,” board member Robert Gattens said.
Gattens also shared concern about the potential for there being too many people in attendance. Balz responded he will have additional security officers and people escorting attendees across the street. He said alcohol won’t be allowed outside the theater and a cleanup crew will be on hand after the event.
Balz said staff at the event will have emergency phone numbers, and an emergency medical technician will be on site.
Several people involved in the arts and music community spoke in favor of the event prior to the board’s vote.
Conor Kelly O’Brien, executive director of the Scranton Fringe Festival, testified that Balz and his staff at the Ritz have been wonderful to work with and urged the board to approve the exception to allow the arts and culture scene in Scranton to grow.
“The city needs to be moving forward,” O’Brien said. “It is economic development … a sense of community identity.”
Gustavo Mejia, lead singer of Broken Alibi, said locals are excited about the tour and he is excited to perform at it, adding the area has a thriving music scene.
“This is something that would be wonderful for our local community,” he said. “It will bring out everyone.”
Gattens said the project will attract younger people to the city.
Board member Shawn Walsh asked prior to the vote that Balz appear before the board next year to get a permit for the event.
The revived Vans Warped Tour has three main events — the closest one in Washington, D.C., which sold out in April. The Road to Warped Tour in Scranton is a small stop along the way. Some of the same bands will play both the Ritz and the D.C. festival.
The Road to Warped Tour will be the Ritz’s biggest event since it opened in its current incarnation last year. Local and rising acts will begin at noon, with headliners later. The performances will be all-ages shows.