Rap star Jay-Z’s plans for a huge music festival on Labor Day weekend in downtown Los Angeles aren’t inspiring a standing ovation among business people in the area.

Business leaders say people who would ordinarily go downtown to shop or try out some of the new restaurants or bars over the holiday weekend might opt to steer clear of the festival crowds and closed streets.

“While some of our business owners hope this event will raise downtown’s profile, others are fearful that if this event is not well-prepared or well-managed, it could have a very negative impact on their business,” said Blair Besten, executive director of the Historic Core Business Improvement District. “They are concerned about street closures and the possibility that potential customers would decide to avoid downtown.”

Besten said the most difficult part for her member businesses is that city officials and festival organizers have yet to release many specific details about the festival, its setup and logistics.

Rapper Jay-Z’s Made in America festival will take place Aug. 30 and Aug. 31. Up to 50,000 people are expected to attend, with tickets priced at $125 each. The event is sponsored by the Budweiser, the main U.S. beer line of Anheuser Busch InBev of Leuven, Belgium, and will be staged by Live Nation Entertainment of Beverly Hills. Jay-Z will headline the festival. Other performers have yet to be announced.

The festival will be on the 12-acre Grand Park between the Los Angeles Music Center and City Hall and spread onto surrounding streets.

The festival zone is expected to stretch from Grand Avenue on the west to Main Street on the east and from Temple Street on the north to somewhere between First and Second streets on the south. The length of the street closures will likely be four or five days, since organizers will need a day or two prior to the event to set up the soundstages and the enclosures, and one day after the event for dismantling.

People who might otherwise travel downtown may decide to avoid the area entirely. Patti Berman, president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council said businesses along Broadway and in Little Tokyo could be hurt.

“People who don’t have tickets to this festival will just stay away from downtown and all these new businesses will suffer,” Berman said.

Faddoul Baida, a jeweler at the corner of Hill and Sixth streets, about a half mile from the concert site, said he’s very concerned because Saturdays are his busiest days, especially on holiday weekends.

Baida said that when streets are closed off around the civic center for officer funerals and other events, it can take customers and delivery drivers an hour or more just to get through the downtown area to his store.

“I fear many people who make appointments that weekend will get so frustrated with the gridlock that they will either turn back or if they do make it through, decide next time to go to Beverly Hills or some other jewelry district,” he said.

Baida said he’s also concerned that some festival-goers who have had too much to drink could come through the Jewelry District and smash store windows.

A spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti said City Hall will address the concerns.

“We will make sure the word goes out that downtown will be open for business,” said spokesman Yusef Robb.

Robb said representatives of the Mayor’s Office and city departments would be meeting with neighborhood and business groups in coming weeks to iron out any concerns that arise.

He said many downtown businesses should actually see a boost in their businesses as out-of-town festival attendees converge on the area.

“They will need hotel rooms, and they will patronize local restaurants, bars and shops,” he said.

He cited a study of a similar Made in America music festival in Philadelphia in 2012. That study claimed the festival brought in $6 million in direct spending and nearly $4 million in indirect spending, mostly from out-of-town attendees.

Downtown, of course, is no stranger to big events, from championship parades to annual festivals such as Fiesta Broadway. But this is the first event that would be held in the civic center area over several days, taking advantage of the new Grand Park.

City Councilman Jose Huizar, who represents the area, introduced a motion to deny permits for the event until the concerns of local residents and businesses have been addressed.

One local business leader agreed that it’s vital for the city to take this into account.

“We think it’s great that downtown has now become the center for the city and the region for events of this type,” said Carol Schatz, chief executive of the Central City Association, which represents downtown business interests. “The key is now that downtown has become such a major residential community, the city needs to make sure that the needs and concerns of the residents about this event are accommodated.”