City went to lengths to limit events during Lovin’ Life weekend, emails show

Lovin' Life Music Fest was deemed a success without any glaring hiccups, but that's partly because Charlotte officials worked to limit events across the city that May weekend, emails obtained by Axios show.

Why it matters: Charlotte proved it's big time enough to host a massive music festival — as long as there aren't too many other simultaneous events that suck up its resources.

Driving the news: Early into planning, Lovin' Life rescheduled its original dates after Wells Fargo Championship announced it would be May 6-12, later than it had historically been held, the emails showed. The music festival was originally supposed to happen the weekend of the 8th.

• Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's chief asked city staff to officially request the festival organizers to move weekends, according to one email.

What they're saying: During initial meetings a year before the festival, CMPD stressed concerns about staffing. They discussed how they could not accommodate any Bank of America Stadium or Spectrum Arena events, a meeting recap shows.

• The Public Assembly Permit Application, upon receiving conditional approval in August 2023, included that there should be communication with Tepper Sports & Entertainment and Spectrum Arena to prevent scheduling conflicting events.

Yes, but: A Charlotte FC game still happened that Saturday. It didn't seem to impact the festival happening on the opposite side of Uptown, though.

• "It is the city's practice to balance the need for city staff support when multiple events are planned," the city's Department of Transportation tells Axios. "In this case, the city was able to manage both events."

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