Day But No Night For LA Raves

The county had threatened a “moratorium” of EDM events on all property it owns, including the Fairplex site of the Los Angeles County Fair. Two women died of suspected drug overdoses during HARD Summer, prompting county supervisors Hilda Solis and Mike Antonovich to move for an investigation and possible temporary ban on such events.

The board’s next meeting was scheduled just days before the Labor Day weekend Night At Fairplex was to begin. Instead, Live Nation went to work with the L.A. County Fair Association to come up with a set of conditions the concert promoter and county government could live with, starting with the cancellation of Night At Fairplex, but allowing other events to take place as scheduled, with modifications.

The Day of the Dead event is being scaled back by more than one-third, from 65,000 capacity to 40,000. Headliners are Deadmau5 and Skrillex, and lineups include Hot Chip, Nero, Flying Lotus and Future on Oct. 31 and Gesaffelstein, Glass Animals and Fairplex on Nov. 1.

Among conditions agreed to between Live Nation and the Fair Association are an age limit of 21 and over; reduced festival hours; installation of more cooling stations, shaded areas, misting stations and free water to readily available to all festivalgoers; anti-drug and drug education messaging to be produced and distributed in consultation with the county’s health department; and enhanced onsite security and emergency medical services.

“Festival organizers and promoters are pleased to have worked quickly with the County Supervisors in order to complete the County’s inquiry and bring about the agreed-upon modifications to our operations for HARD Day of the Dead at Fairplex, which will further our fans to have a safe and fun time,” HARD Events said in a statement. “We continue to study this issue and the propriety of continuing to hold such events on County property,” Solis said. “We are considering additional health and safety measures. We are also considering the creation of a specialized task force that will include health and safety representatives from the county’s Departments of Public Health, Health Services, Fire and Sheriff.

“While the Board supports musical events in the County, what is of paramount importance is the health and safety of the youth attending those events,” Solis concluded. Ticketmaster is in the process of updating its event calendar and deleting Night At Fairplex from its LA County Fair event lineup, according to a spokeswoman for Live Nation, the parent of both TM and Hard Events.

It will contact customers who purchased tickets for the festival and issue refunds, but ticketholders who wish to do so may call 800-653-8000.