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Wasteland Weekend
Wasteland Weekend Main Gate
BeginsSeptember 25, 2024 (2024-09-25)[1]
EndsSeptember 29, 2024 (2024-09-29)
FrequencyAnnual
Location(s)Edwards, California, United States
Years active13
InauguratedOctober 22, 2010 (2010-10-22)[2]
FounderKarol Bartoszynski[2] Jared Butler[2] James Howard[2]
Attendance4,300 (2019)[3]
Organised byJared Butler[1] Adam Chilson
Websitewww.wastelandweekend.com

Wasteland Weekend is an annual festival held in Edwards, California. The event is listed as a full immersion event, with all participants required to adhere to the set theme. It has been held annually in September since 2010, except for 2020, when the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the 10th-anniversary edition of Wasteland Weekend[4] was held from September 25 to September 29.

The festival includes post-apocalyptic themed costumes, campsites and vehicles, live bands and DJs,[5] fire, burlesque and other performers, and Jugger matches.[6]

Jugger Match

History

Wasteland Weekend has been held annually since 2010. The first Wasteland Weekend received media attention and a video greeting from George Miller, director of the Mad Max films.[7] It has grown from approximately 350 attendees in 2010 to approximately 4,300 in 2019.[3][8]

Drawing on Mad Max-themed events in other countries, the first event was held in October in California City, California. It was organized by Karol Bartoszynski, Jared Butler, and club promoter Jim Howard. The event featured exhibitions of movie replica cars and bikes, a gyrocopter flyover, vendors, fire dancers, and contests.[2] Co-Founder James Howard left management in 2010. Co-founder Karol Bartoszynski left in 2014.

The event is currently owned and organized by Jared Butler and Adam Chilson under their company Wasteland World Inc.

In 2017, the event expanded from four to five days, beginning on the last Wednesday of September.[1] By the tenth consecutive year in 2019, the sold-out event had over 4,300 participants. With 2020 being cancelled, year 11 was deferred to 22nd – 26th, 2021.

Theme

The theme of Wasteland Weekend draws heavily from apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, especially the Mad Max franchise, and requires all attendees to wear appropriately themed clothing. In the early years, Wasteland Weekend was billed as "Mad Max fun in the California sun". Other influences include Wasteland and the Fallout series of video games.[9][10]

In Media

In 2016, an episode of Jay Leno's Garage, hosted by Jay Leno, was filmed on the Wasteland Weekend property, featuring vehicles and participants from the event.[citation needed]

Wasteland Weekend 2017 was featured in the second season of The Boulet Brothers' Dragula, in which the four remaining competitors had to take part in a photoshoot in a nearby desert and perform as a group at Wasteland Weekend.[11][12]

Adam Savage's Discovery, Science Channel show "Savage Builds" season 1 episode 3 "Mad Max Melee" featured Butler, several vehicles from Wasteland Weekend,[13] and the festival's property.[14]

A 2019 episode of HBO's Silicon Valley included a video promo for a new desert event, RussFest, and was filmed on the Wasteland property featuring vehicles and participants from the event.[citation needed]

Additional Events

There have been several official spin-off events from Wasteland Weekend and its organizers, including The Wasteland Film Festival (started 2013),[15] The Wasteland World Car Show (started 2016),[16] and The Wastelanders Ball (started 2017).[17] The same team also launched an annual sci-fi and cyberpunk-themed festival, Neotropolis,[18] in 2022.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Wasteland Weekend Website". Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Wasteland Weekend". San Diego Reader. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b "WASTELAND WEEKEND - Revolver". Revolver. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  4. ^ Svejda, Alexia. "California City desert transforms into wasteland for world's largest post-apocalyptic festival". The Bakersfield Californian. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  5. ^ "Music Lineup For Wasteland Weekend". Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  6. ^ "Wasteland Weekend". RoveMe. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  7. ^ "A BRIEF HISTORY OF WASTELAND WEEKEND".
  8. ^ "Mad Max Fans Hit the Desert for Apocalyptic Weekend". Wired. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Wasteland Weekend Theme & Costume Guidelines".
  10. ^ "Witness! The Very Best Wasteland Weekend 2015 Photos | Nerdist". nerdist.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-11.
  11. ^ Liner, Lucas (2019-07-27). "[Review] "Dragula" S2E7: Apokolips Part I". CryptTeaze. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  12. ^ @WastelandHQ (January 5, 2018). "In case you missed it, here is the second half of the Boulet Bros' Dragula episode filmed at Wasteland Weekend..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "25 Coolest Mad Max Cars From Wasteland Weekend". HotCars. 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  14. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Building Mad Max Inspired Vehicles of Destruction! | Savage Builds. YouTube.
  15. ^ "The Survivor at the Wasteland Film Festival – Mark Renshaw". Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  16. ^ The Post-Apocalyptic Car Show, retrieved 2021-03-31
  17. ^ "We Witnessed the Wastelanders Ball 2019; Kinda Like a 'Mad Max' Prom". bleedingcool.com. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  18. ^ "A New World of Immersion: Neotropolis". Wasteland Weekend.

External links

Mad Max
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