First-Year Wonderfront To Take Over San Diego, Big Time

– Wonderfront partners
Paul Thornton, Ernie Hahn and Rob Machado get in the mood for the big San Diego beach fest.

A massive new music festival will make a huge splash in the sunny Southern California market when Wonderfront Music and Arts Festival, the brainchild of Paragon Presents president Paul Thornton and Pechanga Arena manager Ernie Hahn, debuts in downtown San Diego Nov. 22-24.

With Wonderfront, the duo wanted to give fans an experience that’s part major music festival and part citywide party, boasting seven stages, afterparties and a small fleet of luxury yachts – all taking place in venues and parks along the San Diego Bay.

The resulting lineup features more than 90 artists and is topped by Miguel, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Don Omar, Big Gigantic, Migos, Slightly Stoopid, Nicky Jam, MGMT, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Los Angeles Azules and Tucanes de Tijuana. Other acts on the eclectic bill include Lil Baby, Michael Franti & Spearhead, X Ambassadors, Aminé, Phantogram, STS9, Parquet Courts, Walk the Moon, Vince Staples, Busta Rhymes, Thievery Corporation, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Japanese Breakfast, X, Moon Taxi, Alice Merton and Suicidal Tendencies.

“The main way we looked at it was from a fan’s view,” Thornton says. “We asked ourselves, ‘What do fans want?’ The idea became a hybrid between a really big music festival and a SXSW.”

With atypical festival experiences including beach sports, cantinas, boat and surfboard rentals, sports bars, a comedy club, a craft beer village, yacht parties and a hidden island area, Thornton says Wonderfront offers something for everyone.

Attendees will be able to pass through festival gates freely to travel wherever they want outside the festival. “People are showing up late to festivals because people get fatigued and traveling around at festivals is hard and wears you out,” Thornton says. “We wanted to address those two things.” Fans will come and go via security checkpoints along San Diego’s famed bay that will include stages at the Embarcadero Marina Park South, Embarcadero Marina Park North, Seaport, he explains. Water taxis will shuttle attendees to different yachts, stages and party areas, all within the festival boundaries.

“If they want to jump on a ferry and go to Coronado Island and hang on the beach, then let them do it,” he says. “If they want to do lunch or dinner in the Gaslamp Quarter, let them.”

But even with a wide array of experiences, a music festival is only as good as its lineup. That’s why Thornton wanted the festival to have a “music lover’s” marquee, and booked both major acts and emerging artists.

– S.D. Party:
One of Wonderfront’s party boats gets a test voyage during a party for sponsors and guests a few weeks ago. The boat will also host late-night afterparties with DJs and hit the water during Wonderfront.

“The focus of our game plan, talent wise, was they needed to have new music or be pushing for something new breaking out this year. Even if they’re a career band we wanted them to have a new album out,” Thornton says. “Secondly, we wanted diversity in that lineup. We looked at it as more than a music festival set in San Diego. This is a celebration for San Diego.”

The Wonderfront duo envisions the fest as revitalizing San Diego after it lost out on a Major League Soccer stadium and the NFL’s Chargers moved to L.A. Hahn “was a big Chargers fan,” says Thornton, who recalls his partner saying, “This city needs a win,” after the team announced its departure.

Thornton and Hahn figured the best way to pay homage to San Diego was to get the entire city in on the project.

“The city and port are true partners in the event,” Thornton said. “The big obstacle was working through that process with the government agencies. What was incredible was they fell in love and they felt it was inclusive of all of San Diego.

“We wanted to grow it to bring a lot of tourists into the market, so the San Diego Tourism Marketing District actually gave us the largest sponsorship they’ve ever given to any organization. To back this, the port gave us the largest sponsorship they have ever been willing to do. All of our investors are in San Diego.”

Thornton even brought hometown heroes onboard as investors and event ambassadors, including pro skater Tony Hawk, surf legend Rob Machado and Hall of Fame baseball player Trevor Hoffman.

Thornton expects the festival to bring in around 30,000 people in its first year, but already has plans for growth. “We’re going to grow this thing that is personal to San Diego and it’s going to be massive,” he says.