Bigger Turnouts Expected For HARD's Day Of The Dead At Fairplex

Nov. 1st-2nd

A record turnout is expected at HARD's annual DAY OF THE DEAD FESTIVAL, to be held NOV. 1st-2nd at the FAIRPLEX in POMONA. Around 100 EDM acts are expected to perform on five stages over the course of two nights to expected turnouts of over 40,000 each night -- yet that wouldn't be considered sellouts.

"They do about 100,000 a day for the L.A. COUNTY FAIR, so the FAIRPLEX can hold a lot of people," HARD EVENTS Founder GARY RICHARDS said. "We should do 40,000 a day, but we can go a lot higher. We'd do even better if there wasn't so much competition in terms of special events going on this weekend"

SATURDAY is headlined by KNIFE PARTY, PRETTY LIGHTS, DIPLO and special guests DEADMAU5 b2b ERIC PRYDZ. Day two's bill is topped by CALVIN HARRIS, ZEDD, BASSNECTAR and special guest CAM'RON.

After staging the HARD Summer Fest and previous DAYS of the DEAD at L.A. HISTORICAL PARK near CHINATOWN in downtown L.A., HARD held its 2014 SUMMER bash at the WHITTIER NARROWS RECREATION AREA in EL MONTE, CA. This weekend, the festivities move to the FAIRPLEX.

"We've been looking at fair for a while," RICHARDS said. "We always feel like trying something different. What's really good about FAIRPLEX is that it has all the amenities set up. There's easy access to the freeway; there's plenty of parking on location; there are different areas for all the stages. They even have a zip line. All the infrastructure's here; we don't have to build or set up a lot  of things. It makes it a lot easier for us to set up everything in a more efficient way."

He noted that creating a great artist lineup is still a challenge for the top-tier acts. "It always gets tougher because there's more competition for the big names," RICHARDS said. "To be honest, while it's tougher to do the top end, it has always been pretty effortless to find the newbies coming up."

One thing to expect is bigger and better staging and lighting. "We always try to push the production and mix it up," he said. "This year, we're going to have a big pyramid on the HARD Stage, while the HARDER Stage will be more circular in shape. We always try to mix it up with different looks and videos to stay current and fresh."

One thing that won't be happening this year -- but could happen in the future -- is a livestream of the festival. "I've always wanted to stream this," RICHARDS said. "Even if we don't stream the visual, the audio would work really well. To have all these artists in one place at the same time... I can imagine people in SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA throwing a pretty great house party streaming a HARD show."

After this year's DAY OF THE DEAD, RICHARDS notes that, "We’ll evaluate all three locations to try to figure out what works best in the summer and what works best for HALLOWEEN. Each venue has positives and negatives. We'll see how this works out, then decide."

To get tickets for either or both shows, click here.

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