Nocturnal Wonderland, a massive electronic music festival, took place this past weekend at the San Manuel Amphitheater in California from September 2nd-4th. The sprawling festival — with performers on five main stages and headliners including Above & Beyond, DJ Snake and Bassnectar — was put on by Insomniac Events, a Live Nation subsidiary, which leases the amphitheater from the San Bernardino County. Three people died and 325 people were arrested this past July attending a similar festival in the same county, Hard Summer Music Festival. Because these same occurrences keep happening, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors considered banning the raves at the county-owned facility earlier this year, but ultimately decided to allow the festivals to continue. However, 2nd District Supervisor Janice Rutherford, who was upset about what she said was rampant drug use at raves, is considering bringing the issue up for a vote once again.
This year at Nocturnal Wonderland, attendance sky-rocketed to a massive 67,195 people over three days. An estimated 18,595 people attended the festival’s first night, while 25,762 people went the second night and approximately 22,844 people were in attendance Sunday night. More than a 100 people a day were arrested on suspicion of offences including drug possession, drug sales, assault and battery, and being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. On Friday, the first night of Nocturnal Wonderland, 11 people were arrested just during the security screenings at the entrance of the amphitheater. Two of the most serious incidents took place on Friday. On that day, one attendee was arrested on DUI charges after crashing a vehicle into a marked motor unit working the event. The deputy operating the motor unit was not injured. One sheriff’s deputy was also injured during an arrest Friday evening, hospitalized with minor injuries. Six people were also arrested for being younger than 18, the legal age for admission. On Saturday, 141 people were arrested for the charges listed above. Additionally, on Sunday and Monday morning, when the festival ended, 176 people were arrested, mostly for being under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
The premises were patrolled by uniformed and undercover law enforcement officers from the California Highway Patrol, Alcohol Beverage Control, and San Bernardino County Probation and Sheriff’s departments. K-9 units were also deployed. Insomniac paid for additional law enforcement officers to patrol the Devore and Rosena Ranch areas, according to authorities. The Sheriff’s Department received multiple noise complaints during the course of the three-day festival. Deputies and sound engineers checked the volume and determined in all instances that it did not violate the county’s noise ordinance.
