Desert Daze Festival Canceled for Second Year in a Row Due to Sales Drought

Desert Daze organizers have canceled the rock, electronic, and pop festival for the second time in a row due to low ticket sales. The annual October festival held on the shores of Lake Perris in California celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2022, featuring a star-studded lineup despite being an independent venture.

This year’s lineup promised major acts like Jack White, Thundercat, Liz Phair, and Fleet Foxes. On the heels of last year’s postponement, this cancellation is another stunning blow.

Desert Daze Organizers Announce Cancellation

Less than two months before the festival began, organizers announced the cancellation on the Desert Daze website. “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,” the statement read.

“Unfortunately, due to rising production costs and the current volatile festival market, it is no longer possible to execute the weekend as planned,” the statement continued. “With each year, we do our best to serve the Desert Daze community. We are always learning and working diligently to improve the experience, and we tried everything to find a way forward.”

The 2024 cancellation comes just over a year after Desert Daze announced it would be postponing the 2023 festival to this October, writing in an Instagram post, “We’ll be taking the extra time to ensure we deliver an experience that surpasses expectations for many years to come” (via Desert Sun).

What Does This Festival’s Future Look Like?

After Desert Daze announced its postponement last year, they supplemented the event with a Daze in the City event held the same week. Rather than hosting musical acts in a singular weekend at Lake Perris, various venues throughout Southern California hosted bands like The Black Angels, Melody’s Echo Chamber, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre instead.

The future of Desert Daze, including whether they’ll host a similar regional event this year in lieu of the festival, is unclear. Still, the festival’s statement remains optimistic. “From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your support. Desert Daze is more than a festival or business venture to us.”

“The community that we’ve cultivated together means so much to us and is the reason we will continue to work to find a way to keep this beautiful thing going for many years to come,” the statement continued. “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.”

In the meantime, Desert Daze ticket holders can expect refunds via their point of purchase.

Photo by Adela Loconte/Shutterstock