Hard Event's annual Halloween festival, Day Of The Dead, officially will not return in 2016. The news comes as a fan shared a screenshot of a conversation between them and Hard owner, Gary Richards, also known by his DJ name Destructo, where the DJ said that the festival was not going forward this year.
More tellingly, he says in the conversation via Dancing Astronaut that they decided to cancel the festival in January. According to Richards and a festival rep that echoed his sentiment to Billboard and other outlets, the company was stretched too thin to try and put on two big festivals within three months of each other. The other festival in question is Hard Summer.
"HARD decided earlier in the year not to schedule it this year for production reasons," a representative says. "Preparing for two festivals at two new locations (HARD SUMMER and HARD Day of the Dead) so close together would have been too much of a strain on their resources."
Hard Summer took place in August and moved Fontana Speedway to add camping. The festival was marred with logistical issues that kept things cramped, despite the added space. However the main issue was that another three people died at this year's festival, following the 2015 edition where two individuals died at the festival.
Hard Day Of The Dead normally takes place every Halloween weekend and has booked some of the biggest acts in dance and a smattering of hip-hop artists as well.
Past performers included Deadmau5, Skrillex, Future, Gesaffelstein, Zedd, Bassnectar, Calvin Harris, Knife Party, Pretty Lights, Odesza, Jamie xx and others.
Though Hard Day of the Dead won't take place this fall, the event brand isn't taking the rest of the year off. It is heading to Australia for a run of shows in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane in the beginning of December. Tickets for the tour can be found here.
