Desert Daze Festival, the yearly psychedelic-rock and arts festival, is canceled.
Desert Daze announced its lineup in July, returning to Lake Perris for its original dates on Oct. 10-13 after taking a year hiatus. Promoters shared that the lineup would include Jack White, Cigarettes After Sex, Alex G, The Mars Volta, Thundercat, Fleet Foxes, 100 Gecs, Sleep, Liz Phair, De La Soul, Marc Rebillet, Molchat Doma, The Kills, Floating Points, Power Trip, Beach Fossils, DIIV, Unwound, Death From Above 1979, Shintaro Sakamoto, Danny Brown and more.
This morning via a press release from Desert Daze, organizers shared that as an independent festival, becoming increasingly rare in today’s market, the rise of production costs and the current volatile festival market made it no longer feasible to proceed with this year’s plans for the event.
“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.”
Fans have been taking to social media to express their frustration with the sudden cancellation, and some are blaming this year’s lineup for being too mainstream. One fan on X (formerly Twitter) by the username Clare Monster shared, “This year, Desert Daze started acting like they were Coachella, and it’s gonna come back to bite them. They don’t have the cultural cachet to sell tickets without a lineup OR expect people to show up to this mid list of bands.”
@hauntdyachtclub posted “desert daze cancelled and hippie shake on break… horrible day to be a psych rock girlie.”
Another fan on X shared, “RIP to my favorite music festival.”
Desert Daze Festival began in 2012 as a grassroots event organized by Phil Pirrone, the founder of Moon Block Party, a collective of artists and musicians. Initially, it started as an 11-day music festival in the desert town of Mecca, California, featuring an eclectic lineup of psychedelic rock, indie, and experimental music.
The festival was born out of a desire to create an alternative to the more commercialized festivals, focusing on a DIY ethos and immersive experiences in a desert environment. Over the years, Desert Daze has evolved into attracting a dedicated following and featured acts like Tame Impala, Iggy Pop, and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. The festival has been known for its unique blend of music, art installations, and workshops.
All pass holders will be refunded and contacted directly via their point of purchase. For more information, visit desertdaze.org.
