The Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival is returning to Downtown after a three-year hiatus and promises to be the entertainment event of the year. The three-day festival begins on Friday, Nov. 18 and wraps up on Sunday, Nov. 20. What makes this event so unique is the way it is designed to interact with Downtown’s restaurants and attractions so that local businesses will benefit from the festival as well. The footprint for this harborside party will be four separate staging areas and guests will be encouraged to come and go from each section as well as visit Downtown’s incredible restaurant, bar and craft brewery scene.
Paul Thornton is a partner and co-founder of the Wonderfront Music & Arts Festival and he believes that integrating the festival into the vibrant cityscape helps make this festival the most unique party on the west coast.
“Its Downtown San Diego with the waterfront – its such an amazing place – as we looked to do a festival, we really wanted to do something different so we integrated Downtown into the fabric of the festival.” Thornton said. “Whereas with so many other festivals, you walk through the gates and you’re trapped there for eight hours or 10 hours, or how ever long it is. We really wanted to make it to where people can pop in and out between our venues along the waterfront to jump out and have lunch or go back to your hotel for a bit. Or maybe you need a nap because we’re wearing you out with so much fun stuff going on!”
This festival will feature 80 bands on 10 stages with headliners such as Cage The Elephant, G-Eazy and Gwen Stefani. Artists represent a range of genres from indie rock to rap to reggae. A 400-seat water ferry will be available to shuttle guests between staging areas, and yacht party concerts, sunset cruises and floating oyster bars are also a part of the nautical festivities. The festival celebrates music along side San Diego’s famous beach lifestyle.
Ernie Hahn, another partner and co-founder of the Wonderfront Festival, is a native San Diegan and life-long music fan. He said that his inspiration for the Wonderfront Festival came from the old San Diego Street Scene, an independent and somewhat punkish music festival that was held on the streets of Downtown 20 years ago. After a few good years, the festival was forced to switch to new locations that just did not have the same energy of the original Downtown shows, so eventually it faded away.
“I loved the street scene, especially the way it activated Downtown,” Hahn reflected. “So I tried to figure out what I could do to bring back a festival of that nature.”
The festival will feature a giant craft beer garden where guests can enjoy the best local beers San Diego has to offer. The local San Diego wine scene will be represented in the festival’s wine tasting bar where guests can sample the best varietals our region has to offer. A large number of local artists working in unique mediums will display their pieces throughout the festival.
The festival will also include a large food hall featuring treats from some of San Diego’s biggest restaurants as well as food trucks and street food vendors scattered throughout the Downtown waterfront. In addition, the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market – an open-air seafood market featuring fresh caught seafood and aqua farmed seaweed direct from local fishermen and aqua farmers – will be open on Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
A big part of the festival takes place in and around Seaport Village and the shops will feature special discounts for the event. Both trolley and trains are easily accessible as a travel option and a ferry will be available for those who would like to explore Coronado as well. Museums such as the U.S.S. Midway and the Maritime Museum of San Diego are well within walking distance as well as the new Portside Pier dining complex.
A roomy sports bar with games and multiple video screens will show sports events throughout the weekend, including college and NFL football and will be available for guests to catch the game between sets of the artists.
There will even be two stages where non-festival goers will be able to enjoy free shows. The event is designed to be a one-of-a-kind celebration where everybody can participate even if they have not purchased tickets. It’s a win-win for the city as well as the Wonderfront Festival.
A healthy number of local bands will perform at the Ruocco Park Stage including Wonderfront’s Battle of the Bands winner Aviator Stash as well as Tony Hawk’s Huckjam. Aviator Stash competed with other local bands for a slot in the festival and came out on top. The five-piece band plays the quintessential San Diego style of laid-back reverb-soaked rock that represents the Southern California beach scene, which the Wonderfront Festival is aiming to capture. The Headquarters stage will feature salsa and reggae bands, as well as an exhibition from the region’s best vineyards and brewers, all in one setting. This stage will be open to the public and free for anyone whether they have a Wonderfront ticket or not.
Thornton is looking forward to making the festival a permanent event that showcases our waterfront community to the rest of the nation and makes it a must-see event that rivals the biggest brands out there.
“We want people to jump on our yacht parties and go out for a booze cruise which is part of their ticket, or jump on the five-minute ferry over to Coronado and sit on the beach for an hour if you want, then come back into the festival. It’s just so easy to do with where we are right there on the waterfront.” Thornton added. “If someone doesn’t really know what its about and wanted to get an idea, or maybe they are not into the bands that are featured that day, there are so many spots along the boardwalk where you can sit and have a drink and still hear the music, right?”
Thornton is confident that allowing concertgoers to roam around will set his festival apart from the normal events that keep their guests confined to the grounds. “Most festivals don’t like doing that because they want to trap you in and make you spend every dollar with them, but we just felt like being able to have this ability gave us that long-term experience success because its just going to be better for folks – even if you couldn’t purchase a ticket. I mean, everyone deserves music right?”
