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One of 2016’s most epic music festivals was undoubtedly Desert Trip, the October megafest that filled with two weekends with performances from The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Roger Waters, and Paul McCartney, who shared the stage alongside the likes of Neil Young and Rihanna. The event was put together by Goldenvoice’s Paul Tollett, who also founded Coachella and staged Desert Trip at the same Indio, California site that serves as its home. Many thought it would be impossible to top 2016’s event and it turns out they may be right. Desert Trip will not be returning in 2017.
“We’re not doing Desert Trip this year,” Tollett tells Billboard. “We loved 2016 Desert Trip — that was a special moment in time. Maybe someday in the future we’ll do something similar.”
This is a surprising development considering the festival raked in $160 million over its two weekends, having attracting 75,000 people each weekend. It’s also a disappointment to those who believed a Led Zeppelin reunion was due for the 2017 installment, a rumor that was fueled after Robert Plant posted the words, “Any time now…”, to his website.
Disappointing? Definitely. But in this post-Fyre Festival landscape, it might be wise for festivals to know when to fold ’em.