The Death of Festivals

[Drunk Monk]

Vicious trend claims another California music festival

The moon begins to rise over the Sunset Campout in Belden, Calif.
Courtesy of Robin Russell
By Silas Valentino,Travel EditorApril 15, 2025

A small yet beloved music festival hosted in a remote Sierra Nevada Gold Rush town announced it’s bidding farewell following a 16-year run. In June, after the last person dusts themself off and leaves the riverbanks by Belden, a tiny town in Plumas County, the Sunset Campout festival is pulling the plug. 
Launched by a pair of San Francisco DJs and producers who go by Sunset Sound System, the festival’s organizers said they made the decision due to several reasons, such as event competition and sluggish ticket sales, as it becomes more complicated to produce smaller, independent festivals in California. 
“It’s the sweet 16,” co-founder Galen Abbott told SFGATE. “We’re all very passionate about this, and we’re calling it the ‘end of a cycle.’ Maybe we’ll come back in a few years, but it feels like it’s ready. We’re going to give it this one last year to put everything we’ve done all together and bring it all home.”
The final Sunset Campout, with a theme called Star Family Zenith, is scheduled for the June 20 weekend along the North Fork Feather River, about 200 miles northeast of San Francisco. Abbott and co-founder Solar Langevin started hosting campouts in 2009 as an offshoot of their Sunset Sound System events, which have included renegades and daytime raves in San Francisco since the 1990s.
The pair first started hosting their summertime campouts in Willits, in Mendocino County, before finding a home in the Sierra. Their campouts go late into the night, with DJs performing on two stages, and feature elaborate light shows, custom art pieces, and a space called the Faerie Ring that hosts yoga, meditation, creative conscious workshops and ceremonies.
A DJ performing during the Sunset Campout in Belden, Calif.
Courtesy of Robin Russell
A sound bath at the Faerie Ring during the Sunset Campout in Belden, Calif.
Courtesy of Robin Russell
Since the first event in 2009, the Sunset Campout has been fully embraced by Belden, a census-designated place with about 15 people that has a rich gold mining history. The festival is held near a one-lane bridge built in 1937 — a martini glass adorning the bridge top — that crosses the river near the town’s only major establishment, the Belden Town Resort and Lodge.
Jayme Kaufman, the resort’s manager, told SFGATE that she loves the annual event and that festivalgoers continue to return in the offseason. “Half the people still come up because they love this place so much,” she said. “So many people got married at the resort after meeting there. I know of 20 different weddings from people meeting at Sunset.”
Abbott and Langevin said the event’s capacity is roughly 1,500 people, and it takes about 500 people to put it on. Sunset Campout is supported by the sale of 900 or so tickets, but Abbott said they lost money for the first time last year. 
“That was hard,” he said. “It wasn’t just one thing that shifted. There’s a shift in the entire socioeconomic climate in the Bay Area that was happening before the pandemic.” 
Sunset co-founders Solar Langevin (left) and Galen Abbott are credited with shaping West Coast rave culture.
Courtesy of Sunset Campout
Abbott explained that the Sunset festival is passionate about music that doesn’t have a mainstream appeal and that, since 2009, many more summer events have been competing for ticket sales. Moreover, Abbott has noticed that people have started purchasing tickets much closer to the event date, which puts a strain on festival finances and planning. 
Similar trends have impacted several festivals throughout California, including the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, Lucidity Festival and even Coachella, which did not sell out the past two years. 
Tickets for the last campout start at $374, with volunteer or payment plans available. After their final event in June, Abbott is considering relocating to Amsterdam to be near family, and Langevin said he will still be involved with local events. He said that San Francisco has been “club oriented” for a long time, but there’s a burgeoning niche of like-minded independent crews. 
“As far as the San Francisco scene, it’s thriving right now, but it’s more like we used to be back in the day with warehouse parties and renegades,” Langevin said. He mentioned that he’s seeing more renegades in East Bay warehouses as crews like Parameter host bigger events and underground radio platform SutroFM brings people together. 
The Sunset Campout festival takes place near a bridge in Belden, Calif.
Courtesy of Robin Russell
For their part, Sunset is credited with shaping West Coast rave culture by helping to introduce Chicago acid house and European techno to San Francisco and promoting a scene that blends backgrounds. And Abbott and Langevin insisted that although the campout is coming to a close, Sunset will continue to produce other annual events, like the Spring Celebration in Yerba Buena Gardens in downtown San Francisco.
“We bring people together in events that other events haven’t. It’s very San Francisco, West Coast,” Abbott said. “It’s very mixed with a thriving queer culture in the Bay. We made an effort to keep those scenes integrating. It’s been a special part of people feeling accepted on all sides. It’s not easily done, and it’s something we’ve been able to do in a way that felt really great. There’s saying it, and then there’s people who embody it.”
Even for Kaufman, who said she doesn’t usually attend events like the Sunset Campout, the Belden resident said the shows were irresistible.
“It’s the end of an era or something,” she said, adding that, “If you want to see one of the most amazing light shows in the world, come to Sunset. It’s so dialed in perfectly. Those guys know what they’re doing. I stay up until 1 a.m. and then get up at 4 a.m. to cook breakfast for them.”

Never even heard of this one.