Sophia Michaels
Las Vegas’ alt-rock nostalgia festival When We Were Young was forced to cancel its entire opening day slate Saturday due to a high wind warning in the area.
“When We Were Young Festival organizers have spent the last several days proactively preparing the festival grounds for a windy Saturday,” organizers wrote Saturday morning.
“The National Weather Service has now upgraded their Saturday forecast to a High Wind Warning, including dangerous 30-40 mph sustained winds with potential 60 mph gusts. Under advisement of the National Weather Service and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, we have no other choice than to cancel today’s When We Were Young Festival. The safety of our fans, artists and staff will always be our top priority.”
The emo and pop-punk mega-fest at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds had a jam-packed lineup that included Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, Avril Lavigne, Jimmy Eat World, AFI and countless more former Warped Tour vets.
Ticket sales for the fest proved so popular that organizers added additional dates — Sunday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 29 — with the same lineups to When We Were Young; pending the weather, those dates will continue as planned, organizers said, noting that Sunday’s forecast “looks sunny without any wind advisories.”
“This was not a decision that came lightly,” organizers added. “We know many of you traveled to the area to have a spectacular day with your favorite bands and have been looking forward to this day for months. We were equally as excited and are devastated to have to share this news.”
(Earlier this summer, “strong violent winds” at Spain’s Medusa Fest resulted in a stage collapse that killed one person and injured dozens more.)
Ticket holders for Saturday’s When We Were Young will receive a refund within 30 days. Those fans can at least look ahead to the 2023 fest, featuring Blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41, Good Charlotte and many more.
