US festival Lovers & Friends was cancelled less than 15 hours before it was scheduled to begin due to “dangerous weather”.

Promoted by Live Nation, the one-day festival was supposed to kick off on midday Saturday (4 May) in Las Vegas, US, with headlining sets from Usher, Backstreet Boys, Janet Jackson and Alicia Keys.

However, an overnight statement from organisers said they had been “monitoring the weather for several days and proactively preparing for a windy Saturday,” but decided it was too unsafe after advice from public officials and the National Weather Service, which warned of high winds and “gusts potentially more than 60 mph.”

“This was an incredibly heartbreaking decision to make as we are aware that fans have travelled from all over the world to enjoy this incredible lineup of superstars and have been looking forward to this event for several months,” the statement said. “We’ve worked hard to create an amazing event for you, and we are just as disappointed as you are.”

Ja Rule, Ashanti, Gwen Stefani, Monica, Brandy, Nas, M.I.A., Snoop Dogg, Ciara and Ludacris were also featured on the 90s-centric lineup.

“This was an incredibly heartbreaking decision to make as we are aware that fans have travelled from all over the world”

Tickets ranged from $325 (€302) to $695 (€645). Organisers said those who purchased tickets through official channels will receive a refund within 30 days.

Since launching in 2020, Friends & Lovers Festival has experienced its fair share of upsets. When it was first announced in 2020, several artists on its lineup denied their involvement. That year’s event was later cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The festival finally debuted in Vegas in 2022 but three attendees later sued organisers, claiming they failed to provide adequate safety and security measures when rumours of gunfire at the event caused them to be trampled in a stampede. The case is still pending.

Lovers & Friends is the latest festival impacted by extreme weather, following the recent cancellation of California’s Sol Blume.

In the US, adverse weather coverage has “increased significantly” in the last five years, according to Jeff Torda from Higginbotham. Backing this point, a recent Billboard article claimed premiums in North America had tripled in recent years.

The latest edition of ILMC also saw industry leaders discussing ways to cope with the impact of weather on festivals and open-air live music events.

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Alienstock, which began as a viral internet meme, became a point of contention with local residents and the US Air Force and was eventually relinquished by its creators, culminated this weekend in small gatherings of people in towns near to the Area 51 military base in Nevada.

Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee estimated that around 1,500 people had gathered at festival sites in the towns of Rachel (population ~50) and Hiko (population ~120), with a further 150 travelling up to the Area 51 gates. Another estimate puts the number of campers at the Rachel event at 3,000.

Nobody succeeded in ‘storming’ the facility, a highly classified and conspiracy-theory riddled US Air Force base. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, two arrests were made, one for an attempt to enter the gate and another for public urination.

The Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us event, which garnered over two million Facebook attendees, invited fans to raid the US Air Force facility and “see them aliens”.

Alienstock culminated in small gatherings of people in towns near to the Area 51 military base

A live music element was later added to the event, which was dubbed Alienstock, and scheduled to take place from 20 to 22 September in the town of Rachel in Nevada.

Following complaints from local residents, a warning from the US Air Force and concerns over public safety, Storm Area 51 creator, Matty Roberts, stepped away from the event, instead teaming up with the one-day Bud Light Area 51 Celebration in Las Vegas.

Separate events took place near to the Air Force base, with live music at the Little A’Le’Inn in Rachel and talks from UFO enthusiasts, artists, musicians and filmmakers at the Area 51 Basecamp event in Hiko. The 5,000-capacity Hiko event was cancelled after the first day, having attracted only 500 attendees, reports the Star.

Blink-182 took inspiration from the Storm Area 51 event, creating a Facebook page for their 20 September tour stop at New York’s 19,000-capacity Barclays Center to ‘Invade Brooklyn, They Can’t Stop All of Us (Aliens Only)’. Fans were encouraged to dress up “as aliens or nurses OR nurse aliens”.

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The creator of the Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us Facebook event and subsequent spin-off music festival Alienstock has stepped away from the event, which was due to take place in Rachel, Nevada (population ~50) from 20 to 22 September 2019.

Organisers are instead teaming up with the one-day Bud Light Area 51 Celebration, taking place on 19 September at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center (2,500- to 11,000-cap.).

The cancellation came shortly after organisers announced Alienstock’s line-up, which featured Boots Electric – the solo project of Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes –, Willy Savage and alien-costumed trio Brothers of Alien Rock.

“Due to the lack of infrastructure, poor planning, risk management and blatant disregard for the safety of the expected 10,000-plus Alienstock attendees, we decided to pull the plug on the festival,” reads a post on the festival’s website.

“We foresee a possible humanitarian disaster in the works, and we can’t participate in any capacity at this point.”

“Due to the lack of infrastructure, poor planning, risk management and blatant disregard for the safety of the expected 10,000-plus Alienstock attendees, we decided to pull the plug on the festival”

Storm Area 51 creator Matty Roberts, who was organising the festival along with event producer Frank DiMaggio, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the cancellation of Alienstock came as a “fantastic relief” following a build up of “concerns” in the run up to the event.

Fans have expressed disappointment on the Area 51 celebration page, which numbers 440 attendees compared to Storm Area 51’s two million, with one user writing: “Alienstock canceled [sic]… no more desert party… what a disappointment… now it’s [a] one day thing in Vegas on a THURSDAY!? I took vacay days off for [this] c’mon at least let it be a Friday.”

Roberts places the blame on permit holder Connie West, the owner of Rachel’s Little A’Le’Inn who reportedly failed to supply the event organisers with “contracts, proof of deposits or any paper proof of anything” that she claimed to have secured for the festival.

In turn, West claims Roberts and DiMaggio have “broke[n] the intent”, stating she intends to take legal action.

An announcement on the official Rachel, Nevada website states that a “scaled down event” is still being planned for the Little A’Le’Inn. However, the site warns that the event “will be rather disappointing”, with expected attendance of “a few hundred at best”.

Town officials had previously voiced opposition to Alienstock, warning that locals would “step up to protect their property” from festivalgoers.

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The town of Rachel, Nevada, has warned Alienstock organisers that locals are opposed to the festival and will “step up to protect their property” if the Area 51-themed event goes ahead next month.

Announced earlier this week, Alienstock promises “a weekend full of camping, music and arts” in the Nevada desert, including “surprise performances” from “huge” headliners. The festival is being produced by the people behind the viral ‘Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us’ Facebook event; Rachel was chosen as the location due to its proximity to the US Air Force base (officially known as Homey Airport), which conspiracy theorists speculate houses alien technology.

In a statement posted on the Rachel’s official website, hosted by ‘Area 51 research’ site Dreamland Resort, town officials say the event is likely to attract “crooks trying to capitalise on the chaos” and warn: “Most residents do not like where this event is going and will respond accordingly.”

Referencing the original ‘Storm Area 51’ gathering, the Rachel statement says attendees “must be experienced in camping, hiking and surviving in a harsh desert environment and have a vehicle in good shape”, warning that the town lacks shops, a petrol station and facilities for cashless payments.

“The residents were not asked and are not on board and will certainly not allow their town to be taken over”

“Other than the Little A’Le’Inn, a small bar/restaurant/motel, there are no services in Rachel,” it reads.

On Alienstock, and its plans to “take over” over the town, it adds: “They threaten to ‘take over Rachel’ and claim that the residents are ‘on board’ The residents were not asked and are not on board and will certainly not allow their town to be taken over.

“Law enforcement will be overwhelmed and local residents will step up to protect their property. This is not a good time to visit and experience Rachel.”

IQ has contacted Alienstock production partner Hidden Sound for comment.

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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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