“It’s love, that’s why we’re here,” said Dominic Fike as he wrapped up his set at Wonderfront 2024. Fike hit the nail on the head when talking about his own set, but the sentiment reverberated for the entire festival as music fans flocked to Waterfront Park for the Wonderfront 2024 Music Festival.

This year's festival featured a diverse array of performers, ranging from burgeoning local talents like Saint Luna and Guantanamo Bay Surf Club to emerging mainstream acts such as Dominic Fike and JID. For more seasoned fans, established acts like Weezer and The Roots graced the stages.

 In contrast to the previous year's country-centric lineup, with major acts like Zac Brown Band and Lainey Wilson, this year’s focus was on alt-rock and hip-hop, the underdogs of the San Diego music scene. While the festival continued to tailor to the rancher-hat-wearing, wine-drinking crowd with artists like Mt. Joy and Natasha Bedingfield, it’s the Gen-Z and alternative acts that took center-stage, represented by performers like Kaytranada, BADBADNOTGOOD, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.  

A notable improvement this year was the revamped artist schedule, which minimized scheduling conflicts and enhanced the overall experience. Instead of simultaneous performances by major acts, headliners rarely overlapped and performed on neighboring stages, facilitating access to all the headlining artists without having to compromise.

The festival layout underwent a major overhaul, with a condensed location and the introduction of free stages in Seaport Village that were accessible by the general public. While this streamlined navigation between stages, sound bleeding from other stages would occasionally interrupt some performances; it was hard to enjoy a heart-breaking singer/songwriter set when a stage across the way was sound-checking trap drums.

Alcohol and food were (to no one's surprise) exorbitantly priced, but canned water was relatively affordable ($5.50 for a tall boy) and this year they had three massive Water Towers that patrons could fill their water bottles with for free. Those were available throughout the entire event, making water easily accessible. 

Water wasn’t the only thing easy to get to, the port-a-potties were largely well-maintained and constantly stocked. The bathroom section was awkwardly gated off in a way that created a bottleneck for anyone trying to get in or out, but that only occurred between set changes for the biggest artists and it was generally manageable.

Despite the predominantly younger demographic, the audiences were generally friendly, well-behaved, and amenable. Each day brought a different crowd, reflecting the music scheduled that day, and the diversity in attendees highlighted the wide variety of music lovers inhabiting San Diego. Friday had the youngest audience, Saturday had the widest mix of people, and Sunday was primarily families and casual music fans.  

The festival drew many audience members from out of town. Deanna DeVere and Kevin Rodriguez drove from Los Angeles on Saturday to attend the festival, “We came for Unknown Mortal Orchestra (UMO) and Dominic Fike” said Rodriguez. “We got here a bit late for UMO, but I got to hear ‘Hunnybee’ so it’s all good.”  

Paul Lauridsen from Fremont, California drove nearly eight hours for the festival, “I’m enjoying the layout of the whole thing, and I’m here to see Chanel Tres.” He said, “I’m excited to see Weezer and BADBADNOTGOOD, but already T-Pain was incredible.”

Emergency medical services and the San Diego Fire Department were on standby throughout the festival, ensuring a safe environment for all attendees. Two members of SDFD on Sunday, who wished to not be named, said, “Crowds are being really great, haven’t run into any issues yet. People are having fun and staying safe.”

The only instance when the crowd felt rude or out of control was during Dominic Fike’s set. Eager fans were cramming their way to the front, even after the set had started, pushing their way through audience members that had already been waiting for several hours. To that end, it’s hard to blame them because Fike’s set was one of the highlights of the festival and the positive feedback he received from the audience was unparalleled across the other acts.

Finally, what was disappointing is how much trash audience members left on the ground. When Kaytranada finished his set on Friday night, the sound of the crowd dispersing was like a heavy torrent of rain on a tin roof. From the main stage and past the sound booth, the ground was littered in crushed cans. The festival provided an excess of trash and recycling bins across the festival grounds and there was no reason for there to be so much litter when a crushed can fits easily into your back pocket.

Otherwise, Wonderfront 2024 was a smashing success, fingers crossed tickets for next year go on sale soon.