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Pemberton Music Festival sells out first batch of tickets

Founder's Program tickets went on sale this morning
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HUKA Entertainment's A.J. Niland welcomes the crowd at the company's surprise Pemberton Music Festival launch party Wednesday night. Alyssa Noel

The Pemberton Music Festival sold out its "Founder's Program" tickets in 15 minutes Friday morning.

Two days after announcing it would be resurrecting the one-time festival, New Orleans-based promotion company HUKA Entertainment put an initial batch of tickets on sale without revealing any of the lineup in hopes festival-goers would trust their promise that the roster will be "on par" with 2008's offerings. Ticket purchasers were also enticed to shell out $189 for the July 18-20 festival with perks that include access to preferred lodging and pre-sale offers "for life," among other things.

Still, HUKA co-founder and CEO A.J. Niland said they were surprised by how quickly the tickets were snapped up. “We knew demand for tickets would be high after the positive response we received when we announced the festival earlier this week,” he says, in a release. “But the rapid rate of sales this morning was incredible. We’re very humbled and appreciative of everyone who jumped into the deep end of the pool with us on this adventure.”

For those who weren't able to grab one of the tickets, he says both VIP tickets and general admission tickets will be on sale soon. The lineup, however, won't be unveiled until January. At a surprise launch party Wednesday night, The Trailer Park Boys revealed via a video message that they would be among the comedy acts to attend the festival. Guest electro-pop musician Rich Aucoin, who performed at the party, also hinted that he might be returning for the event.

HUKA, meanwhile, has said that the lineup will be similar to that of the Hangout Festival, an event they put on in May in Alabama that featured Stevie Wonder, Tom Petty and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The original Pemberton Festival was held in 2008 by Live Nation, but that company decided not to hold another installation until the event became financially feasible for them. Last December, the Agricultural Land Commission agreed to allow any company to host an event on the grounds, which are at the base of Mt. Currie.