This exciting new festival, coming to this incredible destination with perfect weather, sandy beaches, oceanfront fun, and one of the coolest downtown nightlife scenes in the country, so you’re wondering who pulled this off. Well, I will tell you it’s been more than 6 years in the making, and it’s finally happening. And I’m not going to jump into naming names, because quite frankly this festival isn’t about us, it’s about San Diego. San Diego is the rockstar of this festival. Plain and simple there is no better festival destination in the world! However, I will give you the background of how this festival has come to be, and some background highlights on the amazing team that has come together to pull this off.
It was started by three guys that all love San Diego and became friends through their San Diego journey. One is “Mr. San Diego”, a native who grew up here and never left and has become a well known pillar of the community. He still surfs almost every morning at Black’s Beach, and is a long time fixture in the live music fabric of San Diego. Another played baseball at University of San Diego, spent time living in Mission Beach, and fell in love with the city. He currently works with live entertainment groups in San Diego, as well as across the country, helping them put on some of the biggest names in music. And the third grew up in San Diego, returned after college and has never left, working with businesses throughout the coastal communities. The common thread between the three that kickstarted this endeavor was the desire to bring an incredible event to San Diego that was inclusive of all San Diegans and showcased to the world what is great about San Diego. And the experience is there to pull off something this big, and this incredible. One of the partners has produced thousands of concerts in the San Diego market, and has great relationships with all the key players in the San Diego live scene. And another has produced major festivals around the world including the likes of Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, Austin Fan Fest, and ESPN X Games which all drew hundreds of thousands of patrons, plus many other festivals and events, as well as thousands of concerts across the country. Both have owned and operated major venues including arenas and amphitheaters, and have had their own hands in every little detail when it comes to the live entertainment industry. We’ve also got one of the most professional operations teams in the country, who not only have managed festival production on major events like Formula 1 and X Games, but also have key management experience from some of the biggest music festivals in the country. And our marketing and partnerships team is headed up by a woman who was one of the primary leaders on the San Diego Street Scene team during their heyday, who we have coupled up with one of the strongest marketing agencies in the world (who happen to headquarter in San Diego County.) The investors in the festival are some of the most prominent and well respected folks in the San Diego business community. There are prominent San Diego based strategic partners that have come on to support this cause; the Wasserman Agency, the Belly Up, the RMD Group, Resident Brewing, the Casbah, Vividminds, Inc. and Events.com. Major media partners jumped at partnering in; iHeart Media, Univision, and Entravision. And of course, this truly would not have been possible without the amazing support and efforts of our partner The Port of San Diego. The Port is truly a partner in this event, with their hard working team of event specialists, marketing team, and executive staff who have put their full backing behind making the festival something incredible for all San Diegans and visitors. The City of San Diego, and the Tourism Authority, have been major supporters as well, and without their contributions this event would not be possible. It truly has been a coming together of all the right pieces and players to create the Wonderfront Festival. Plus, we have some awesome ambassadors for the festival. Some of San Diego’s coolest household stars are part of the Wonderfront ownership team, but we will let those names out of the bag a bit later. So what is the vision for Wonderfront. It’s a celebration of the things we love about San Diego. It’s celebrating the love for live music, and the discovery of new music. It’s about delighting in our favorite foods, as San Diego has become a serious foodie
town. It’s about promoting San Diego’s amazing local craft beer scene. It’s about discovering the Wonderfront and all the amazing activities you can find along the
water right in the heart of the city. It’s about playing in the parks, on the water, and on the beaches. It’s about the party going deep into the night in the electric Gaslamp Quarter. It’s about inclusion, and bringing San Diegans from all walks of life together to celebrate the city we love with a diversity of musical genres, arts and
cultural experiences. It’s about being a participant, not a spectator. It’s about being part of the story that together we will write for years to come. Let’s make this festival the best in the world. We are going to give it our best efforts, and we ask for yours too. Let’s make Wonderfront #UNONE.
A Festival for San Diego by San Diegans
