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Storm Area 51 founders announce Alienstock festival

A meme becomes reality as the pranksters behind ‘Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us’ create Alienstock, to take place in Rachel, Nevada, next month

By Jon Chapple on 12 Aug 2019

A warning sign near Area 51 in Rachel, Nevada

A warning sign near Area 51 in Rachel, Nevada


image © Finlay McWalter

The internet troublemakers behind the viral Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us Facebook event have announced plans for a music festival, dubbed Alienstock, to take place from 20 to 22 September 2019.

Held in Rachel, Nevada – a small town (population ~50) close to the secretive US Air Force facility – Alienstock promises “a weekend full of camping, music and arts” in the Nevada desert, including “surprise performances” from “huge names” who will be announced in the coming weeks.

The event will be free, though Arkansas-based organiser Hidden Sound is asking for donations to cover the cost of music, staff, food and water, security, portaloos and emergency services.

At the time of writing, there are more than two million people ‘attending’ the Storm Area 51 raid on 20 September, which calls for attendees to “naruto run” past soldiers’ bullets so the public can finally “see them aliens”. Area 51 has long been the focus of conspiracy theories which allege the air force base hides information on alien life and technology, including crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft.

The event will be free and include camping, though organisers are asking for donations

The event was set up by Facebook meme page Shitposting cause im in shambles and has been flooded with jokes and memes about aliens since its creation in July.

While the ‘raid’ is clearly an absurdist joke, enough people have RSVPed for the Facebook event that the US Air Force felt the need to warn off anyone thinking of storming the base for real, saying it stands “ready to protect America and its assets”, including Homey Airport and Groom Lake, aka Area 51.

“[Area 51] is an open training range for the US Air Force, and we would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area where we train American armed forces,” a spokesperson told the Washington Post in July.

 


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