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For the second year in a row, the organizer of the psych-centric California festival have had to cancel their show. This year’s Desert Daze was set to go down 10/10-13 in Lake Perris. Now, it won’t happen. Citing “rising production costs and the current volatile festival market,” the show’s organizers announced the cancellation this afternoon.
Festival organizers say that they’ll work to put on more festivals in the future, though they haven’t said anything specific about that. Last year, the festival announced that it would take a year off.
“We tried everything to avoid this, but this is a tough year for everybody,” fest founder Phil Pirrone tells LA Times. “Some festivals are doing well, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to which ones do and which ones don’t.” Pirrone also says that this year saw lower-than-hoped-for ticket sales, which started at $299.
Here’s the organizers’ statement:
The organizers of Desert Daze — scheduled for October 10-13, 2024 in Lake Perris, CA — are heartbroken to announce that Desert Daze 2024 is canceled. All pass holders will be refunded, and will be contacted directly via their point of purchase.
As an independent festival, an increasing rarity in today’s festival market, Desert Daze is run by a small team of people who love live music and this community. Unfortunately, due to rising production costs and the current volatile festival market, it is no longer possible to execute the weekend as planned.
“Desert Daze is more than a festival or business venture to us,” notes Desert Daze co-founder Phil Pirrone. “The community that we’ve cultivated together means so much to us and is the reason we will work to find a way to keep this beautiful thing going for many years to come.”
“With each year, we do our best to serve the Desert Daze community,” adds Pirrone. “We are always learning and working diligently to improve the experience, and we tried everything to find a way forward this year. While we hit pause for now, we will be working in the background to deliver another special experience for all of us to share in the future. We thank you for your support.”
All Desert Daze Presents shows are scheduled to move forward as planned.
This year’s Desert Daze lineup, unveiled last month, featured Jack White, Cigarettes After Sex, Alex G, the Mars Volta, Thundercat, Fleet Foxes, 100 gecs, Sleep, and Liz Phair, among many others.