San Diego's Wonderfront Festival: Lineup and details
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Rapper JID is a Friday headliner for the relaunched Wonderfront Festival, set for May 10-12. Photo: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images
After a year off, Wonderfront Festival is back with a new lineup and new timing.
Why it matters: It's been a bumpy road for Wonderfront, which tried to become the region's marquee festival since launching in 2019, then faced two years of pandemic interruptions, an attendance dip for its 2022 return and a year off as it repositioned for 2024.
State of play: The lineup was revealed Tuesday and tickets are now on sale for the waterfront party, which shifted from fall to spring this year.
Details: The festival in and around Seaport Village is May 10-12, with three days of shows that touch hip hop, electronic, neo-soul, pop and indie rock
What's happening: Each festival day has a slightly different flavor, and could draw different crowds.
- Friday: Headliners Kaytranada, a house producer and rapper, and Atlanta-based rapper JID, are joined by auto-tune pioneer (and killer singer) and T-Pain, dance DJ MK and more.
- Saturday: Indie superstars Weezer and singer-songwriter Dominic Fike top a bill that also includes infectious pop-star Carly Rae Jepsen, psych rockers Unknown Mortal Orchestra and chillwave upstarts Poolside.
- Sunday: Beck and crunchy indie rock outfit Mt. Joy close the weekend, after performances by hip-hop royalty The Roots, southern rocker Marcus King and reggae stars Steel Pulse.
Go deeper: A few small-font bands we're stoked to see on the lineup: Proxima Parada, Mapache and Paris Texas.
Between the lines: Wonderfront's new spot over Mother's Day weekend comes as KAABOO, the other regional festival that hit a series of roadblocks in recent years, is set to return to Del Mar in 2024 — but festival organizers haven't announced dates.
- KAABOO last occurred in 2019, then announced plans to move to Petco Park in 2020 amid legal problems. Now, it's eyeing a return to the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
- House and EDM-centric CRSSD has had an easier time establishing itself as a twice-a-year festival downtown.
What we're watching: Wonderfront promises after-party announcements coming soon — and the festival boasts venues Belly Up, Music Box and Casbah as partners.