Avant Gardner, the owner of Electric Zoo who hosted the festival’s disastrous 2023 edition, has hired a new CEO, Billboard reports.
Josh Wyatt, the former CEO of collaborative workspace giant NeueHouse, has been tapped to lead the company and get back into the good graces of Electric Zoo’s fans.
“If I were to make a constructive criticism of the company in the past, it’s that they have not always done a good job of communicating with the various [Electric Zoo] stakeholders,” Wyatt said of last year’s failed event.
“Over the last eight weeks, I have reached out to every key stakeholder in Electric Zoo and I’ve made them whole,” he added with regard to refunding ticket-holders and managing legal issues. ‘I’m proud of that.”
Avant Gardner, an indoor-outdoor venue that includes the famed Brooklyn Mirage, purchased Electric Zoo just a year before its ill-fated 2023 event on Randall’s Island, which led to a number of class action lawsuits.
Now, Wyatt says he’s planning an “experiential evolution” of the complex after an unnamed investor “injected the company with growth capital.” In partnership with Avant Gardner co-founder Billy Bildstein, he’s revealed a new mocktail bar initiative and community spaces, like a hi-fi listening room and visual and art studios.
At the time of this writing, Avant Gardner’s proprietors have not yet formally announced when the new experiences will be implemented.
