Treasure Island Fest Is Taking A Year Off
The well-curated, indie-leaning San Francisco music festival Treasure Island celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, but The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the fest will be taking its 11th year off and returning in 2018 in a new location:
Jordan Kurland, co-founder of festival, said that after a decade of producing the two-day concert at its namesake island, it felt like the right time to pause and re-evaluate. The biggest obstacle in moving forward, he said, is finding a new site as construction under way on Treasure Island’s long-awaited redevelopment project has forced the festival to relocate.
“A lot of factors went into our decision to take a year off,” Kurland said. “The main one being that finding a venue was taking a little longer than we wanted. But there was never a question of whether or not we would do another one.”
Kurland says Treasure Island has narrowed its search down to two locations after spending much of the past year exploring venues in Alameda, Oakland, and San Francisco, including Golden Gate Park, where Outside Lands is held. When the fest returns, it promises to maintain its strict policy of no overlapping sets and to bring back signature elements including a 60-foot Century Ferris Wheel.
Atlanta-based punk festival Wrecking Ball also decided to take this year off while searching for a new location. Meanwhile a number of other festivals have been cancelled due to financial problems (Pemberton, Karoondinha), environmental concerns (the xx’s Night + Day), and spectacular incompetence (Fyre Fest). Best of luck to Treasure Island and other fests fending off the countdown to extinction.