By Emily Blackwood
Some of the 80 artists performing at the inaugural Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival, to be held Nov. 22-24 in Downtown San Diego, were finally announced on June 3.
At a June 3 announcement ceremony held in the Gaslamp Quarter, festival founders Paul Thornton and Ernie Hahn, along with brand ambassadors Tony Hawk and Trevor Hoffman, revealed the big names that would take the three-day event’s seven stages — such as San Diego’s own Slightly Stoopid, MGMT, Walk the Moon, X Ambassadors, Miguel, Tyga, and Busta Rhymes. Stage locations include various parks and piers along the Port of San Diego, from South Embarcadero up to Broadway Pier.
Other artists that will be performing include: Phantogram, Japanese Breakfast, Vince Staples, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Los Angeles Azules, Ximena Sariñana, Victoria La Mala, Big Gigantic, Thievery Corporation, DJ Z-Trip, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, 3LAU, Chrome Sparks, and Gioli & Assia.
Hawk will be skating alongside other professional skateboarders next to his own Huckjam Stage, which will feature Pennywise, Suicidal Tendencies, X, The Vandals and more.
“I’m really honored and excited to be partnering with Wonderfront to bring something to San Diego that’s long overdue,” Hawk said during the lineup announcement. “I remember Street Scene, got to see Sex Pistols there. That was exciting, and I’m excited to be bringing my own flavor to this whole festival.”
For those who don’t remember, San Diego Street Scene was one of America’s largest music festivals held every summer in San Diego from 1984 to 2009. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the festival would bring in an upwards of 32,000 people to the Downtown area — something Hahn hopes to recreate during the week before Thanksgiving; typically a slow time for the city.
“What we’re here to announce today is really the cumulation of going back to when Street Scene left San Diego,” Hahn said. “And it was such a loss. It worked so well in San Diego but it didn’t work when it left and went somewhere else. That’s because the secret sauce was San Diego.
“This would be the last major festival of the year,” he continued. “It’s when San Diego needs an event. They don’t need it in August or September; the hotels are full. But it’s like a ghost town when you get here the weekend before Thanksgiving. We’re gonna change that.”
This announcement is only the first phase, with more musical acts to be revealed in August. Ticket options include both single-day and weekend packages, yacht parties, meet-and-greets, and VIP access. Three-day passes start at $225 and are available now at wonderfrontfestival.com.
— Emily Blackwood can be reached at [email protected].
