Ohio comedian Dave Chappelle has received approval for 15 performances at the Wirrig family pavilion in his hometown of Yellow Springs this summer.
According to the online edition of the Yellow Spring News, which covered the Miami Township Board of Zoning Appeals meeting, the star was given the go-ahead for another series of outdoor shows. The vote was 4–0 to allow a “temporary conditional use request by pavilion owner Steve Wirrig to hold 15 ticketed performances at his rural property on weekends” during the summer of 2023.
The temporary zoning permit is good between June 1 and Oct. 8, but show dates have yet to be announced.
Wirrig told YSNews.com that the first show could possibly be in July, but any official schedule would be “entirely up to Dave and the production team.”
Several online ticket outlets have a Chappelle performance listed for June 2 in Philadelphia, but nothing after that date.
The number of performances being allowed at the pavilion is significantly down from 2022 when 24 shows were approved. However, out of those possible two dozen dates, a total of just 11 performances took place between May and August last year.
Another difference from last year’s zoning meeting was a notable drop in the number of attendees — from upwards of 60 in April 2022 — to around 20, with no one speaking against the request.
Other specifics in Wirrig’s application provided that there will not be more than three shows a week and the acts will not take place on a Sunday unless it is part of a three-day holiday weekend. Crowds would also be limited to 1,000 ticketed attendees with only 200 cars allowed at the pavilion. An overflow lot with a shuttle would be available to accommodate guests. Also, local food trucks and vendors would be permitted to provide provisions at the performances.
No mention of the price of the shows was made. Last year, tickets were sold in pairs at $150 each.
Chappelle’s summer comedy tradition in Yellow Springs began in 2020 with a series of socially distanced shows. The live outdoor performances that took place during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and racial unrest were known as “Chappelle Summer Camp,” and featured other famous comedians. Concerns about a possible COVID-19 exposure shut down the events in late September 2020, with the shows returning briefly in spring 2021.
