Wonderfront returns to San Diego while festival industry retreats
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A crowd shot of the 2022 Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival. Photo: Courtesy Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival.
Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival's road to becoming a premier music event in San Diego hasn't been easy. Now, its third iteration in six years arrives with the festival industry on the rocks.
Why it matters: Wonderfront skipped 2020 and 2021 for the pandemic, and took 2023 off while shifting from fall to spring. It's back now with an impressive lineup and a focus on single-day tickets.
Driving the news: The three-day event kicks off at noon Friday at Embarcadero Marina Park, with free community stages at Seaport Village.
- Headliners are Kaytranada and JID on Friday, Weezer and Dominic Fike on Saturday and Beck, Mt. Joy and a Polo & Pan DJ on Sunday.
The big picture: More than a decade after major festivals revamped the music industry, they've fallen on hard times in 2024.
- Coachella faced sluggish sales and other events went on hiatus, shuttered at the last minute or said they're on life support. More than 20 UK festivals folded and Australia's industry has collapsed.
The intrigue: Viable headliners are scarce this year, leading festivals to overpay for mediocre talent and attendees struggling to justify ticket costs, said Paul Thornton, Wonderfront's managing partner.
- "You see the same headliners and the same lineups at every festival," he said. "We're working hard to be different by curating emerging talent."
Between the lines: A typical weekend festival expects a 70-30 split between three-day pass and single-day ticket buyers, but Thornton said Wonderfront has flipped that this year.
- That meant focusing genres on specific days — hip-hop and EDM on Friday, rock of all kinds on Saturday, and a crunchy roots, Americana, jam combo Sunday.
- "For someone who is really only into hip-hop, if we spread it across three days, that might feel thin," Thornton said. "If they can focus on one day, that feels like good value."
- "The sense is, it's hard to get people to give you three days for anything," he said.
Context: San Diego has a reputation as a tough market, but Thornton said Wonderfront officials have adjusted to its late-buying tendencies.
- "It's just the nature of the market — people are afraid to be locked in too early," he said. "It could be a perfect beach weekend that people don't want to give up."
- The fests that thrive here — like EDM-centric CRSSD and country-focused Boots in the Park — have stayed small and catered to a niche.
By the numbers: The public agency San Diego Tourism Marketing District has again contributed $250,000 to the festival, and the Port of San Diego waived park permit fees.
- An industry standard is that a festival takes three years to break even, making Wonderfront's on-and-off launch even more daunting.
What's next: Thornton said Wonderfront will build momentum if it can get 12,500-15,000 attendees per day.
- They'll get there Friday, issuing a low-ticket warning early this week. Thornton said Saturday is on track, too, but Sunday — Mother's Day — needs a boost.
- 50,000 people attended in 2019, but that dipped to 30,000 in 2022.
- "We know we have a challenge, but we keep getting better and if we do this right, we know people will come," Thornton said.
Read more: Insider's guide to the festival