In the groove
Downtown El Paso music fest slowly grows with backing of city, others
Zach Paul knew that creating a festival wasn’t going to happen overnight.
With that in mind, Paul and the other founders of the Neon Desert Music Festival in El Paso took the time to grow it organically.
This also meant finding partners with the El
Paso downtown business community.
Now in it’s eighth year, Neon Desert has found its groove.
“The brand continues to reach people in Mexico and the Southwest,” he says. “I think we have found our rhythm and groove. The first four years, we were producing Neon Desert while having our day jobs. We’ve found a consistency that works, though it also changes on a daily basis.”
Neon Desert Music Festival takes place over 15 blocks in downtown El Paso.
It is a festival that has mainstream American acts alongside international and Latin performers.
The festival will be on Saturday, May 26 and Sunday, May 27.
This year’s headliners consist of electronic dance music giant Martin Garrix, El Paso-born rock band At the Drive-In and Grammy Award-winning rapper Lil Wayne.
On Sunday, rapper Gucci Mane will perform, as well as producer Dillon Francis and Mexican rock group Café Tacvba.
Other bands slated to perform over the two days include Third Eye Blind, Playboi Carti, Malaa, Cults, Caloncho, Little Jesus, Earthgang, Boogie, GTA, Farruko, The Drums, Bomba Estéro, LANY, Lecrae, Cuco, Nao and Buddy.
Paul says last year’s festival pulled in 20,000 people each day.
“That was the largest the crowd has been,” he says. “It felt pretty crowded. The streets in downtown aren’t wide. They are narrow. Until we figure out a new footprint downtown, we can handle at least that size of attendance. It’s the most we can do right now.”
Paul says the festival has been lucky in having the support of the city of El Paso and Destination El Paso, as well as private entities in the area.
“It takes the support of the city and sponsors to make this happen,” he says. “The fans all come for a great music event, and we try to be as diverse as the world is.”