CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, Robert DeLong’s profession was misstated. DeLong is an electronic dance musician.

This year’s Juice Jam is now the highest-selling Juice Jam of all time, with more than 8,500 tickets sold as of Wednesday.

Changing the format to a daylong and multi-stage festival contributed to this year’s record-setting sale, said University Union Public Relations Director Mitchell Mason. But he said he believes the reason why this year’s sales exceeded previous years is because of the musical acts.

The festival will feature platinum-selling rapper Kendrick Lamar, electronic music producer Nicky Romero and alternative rock band The Neighbourhood as separate acts on the main stage. The festival will also include a new indie stage featuring Smallpools, electronic dance musician Robert DeLong and hip-hop artist Ab-Soul.

“The more artists that you have that cater to the students, the more likely they will go to the event,” he said. “There’s such a wide array of genres that it caters to a majority of the student body. It makes it a lot easier for us.”

Kendrick Lamar was the second most requested artist during the Juice Jam selection survey, second only to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, who is performing in the Carrier Dome in November, Mason said.

UU had been planning for this year’s Juice Jam festival since January, said former UU president Lindsey Colegrove, who also said she wasn’t surprised at their accomplishment.

“This has been their goal for a while, so I’m proud of the fact that they were able to expand and sell more tickets than ever before,” she said.

Even after selling more than 8,500 tickets, a limited number of tickets are still for sale, which UU’s Mason said he hopes will sell out, reaching the festival’s approximately 10,000-student limit.

Mason added that tickets are very close to selling out for this year’s Juice Jam.

He said he hopes that this trend will continue for Juice Jam, ensuring the new festival format lasts for years to come.

Said Mason: “Breaking the record is something that’s really exciting. What we’re looking forward to is selling out the show and for this to be a brand new Juice Jam for the students. We’re trying to make things bigger and better.”

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Published on August 29, 2013 at 2:06 am