Neon Desert Festival Draws Fans From Region; Organizers Hope To Be Back In 2012

Neon Desert Music Festival’s international and local lineup of 29 bands got more than 11,000 people to get down over the weekend.

“We were counting on El Paso to come out and support us and they did,” said Zach Paul, one of the organizers of the one-day event.

And it wasn’t just El Pasoans.

“We had people from Juarez, Chihuahua, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Tucson, Lubbock … I mean, we got the region,” Paul said.

Some out-of-towners said the fest changed the way they thought about the Sun City altogether.

“Digging the city and everything about it so far. I’m really applauding El Paso for their first attempt at this big festival thing. It’s really cool,” said John Aldridge, of The Black And White Years.

With packed streets and pumped up fans, what could organizers have done differently?

“We think we can be more efficient with our time, with our money, with our everything. You can never have enough generators, you can never have enough water,” Paul said. “Someone’s gotta run out to Wal-mart to buy 6,000 wristbands or you know, a 5,000 pack of zip ties. It’s a learning process”

Organizers couldn’t confirm if the festival would be back next year but they did dream out loud about the possibilities.

“Maybe this can turn into a two-day festival maybe we can have 50-60 bands in here, who knows. the sky is the limit,” Paul said.