MONROE — After a tumultuous 2022 in a new venue, local music festival Summer Meltdown will not return this year, organizers announced Wednesday.
In an email to supporters, Genevieve Hayton and Josh Clauson, the married couple who produce the festival, wrote they decided to “take the year off in order to figure out the best path forward for Summer Meltdown in 2024.”
Past festivals have featured Allen Stone, Bassnectar and Lord Huron.
The festival started in Clauson’s backyard with local bands. In its 20th iteration last year, there were 400 staffers and 200 volunteers with artists from all over the country.
After over a decade in Darrington, the multi-day festival with dozens of bands across many genres and art installations relocated to private property south of Monroe last year. The venue in Darrington declined to rent the grounds to the festival.
Thousands flocked to the farmland along the Skykomish River in a heat wave in July after two years off due to the pandemic.
The new location came with some bumps. Attendees complained about the new camping area and long waits for shuttle buses. Organizers ordered the buses months in advance, but half of them didn’t show up.
Traffic, noise and light frustrated neighbors in the quiet Monroe-area community.
In their email Wednesday, the couple called the move to Monroe “a monumental task for us and our team, and we learned so much during the process.”
“We understand that this venue change was challenging, and we appreciate all of the support you gave us during Meltdown’s first year back,” Hayton and Clauson added. “We also recognize that while the new venue in Monroe is gorgeous and has a ton of potential, it needs to be developed further before we can host the fest there again.”
After last year’s festival, the couple wrote they took time off to recover and spend time with their baby. The organizers asked to return Summer Meltdown to Darrington to no avail, according to the announcement.
“We will let you know as soon as we have more info to share about this evolution,” Hayton and Clauson wrote. “We love and appreciate you all so much, and want to thank you for being such a beautiful festival community for so many years.”
Another major Snohomish County music fest, Fisherman’s Village, will be announcing its lineup Saturday in a show at Black Lab Gallery in Everett. Past festivals have featured Digable Planets, Built To Spill and Kevin Morby.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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