Northern Nights Music Festival is a three-day celebration of music, art, food and local culture set to run from July 19 – 21 at California’s Cook’s Valley Campground. Host to various acclaimed music festivals for decades, thousands of visitors attend events in the area every year, making concert tourism a big part of the local economy. But some local residents don’t see it that way. They want more time between events, environmental impact studies and more control over concertgoers.
Describing the Northern Nights Music Festival as a “blowout of alcohol and drugs,” Mendocino County Board of Supervisors chairman Dan Hamburg publicized his stance. “There’s something about us welcoming in a rave that scares me,” Hamburg said in a WilItsNews report.
Still, there’s big money at stake with tickets for the three-day event selling for $160 per person and thousands expected to attend. To satisfy officials, promoters have promised to be sure the environment is respected by roaming the adjacent river for campers, educating festival goers on where and how to shower, use the toilets and park their cars.
In response to neighboring landowners and their concerns, the stage and speakers will be directed away from them and a blocking sound wall will be built. To comply with permit requirements that loud music stop at 2 a.m., concertgoers will be given wireless headphones for a “Silent Disco.”