FREE CONCERT IN THE PLAZA
I've been trying to organize a large block party in Downtown Stockton for years. I frequently go to Sacramento and San Jose, and they regularly close streets down and have concerts for people to attend where they can buy food and drinks and walk around and listen to Diplo, Chris Lake, Noizu, Dom Dolla, Sunbrn, Shiba San, Dombresky, Dillon Francis, etc. These are always positive events, they bring visitors to the city, they bring revenue to the city, and I have always wanted to do this at home. After having several meetings with the city of Stockton, Visit Stockton, and Downtown Stockton Alliance, it has become very clear that no one in Stockton that has the means to make this happen has any desire to make this happen. So we, the people, have to continue to go out of town and spend our dollars, gas money, plane ticket money, and hotel money in other cities.
I've decided to take the first step and start very small to show a proof of concept. We are not going to close any streets or bring any big name DJs because you can't just flip a switch and expect the people of Stockton to suddenly be the people of Sacramento or San Diego who are accustomed to going to events like this on a regular basis. We have to the check the temperature of the culture of our city and see if there is even a market for this type of event because it comes with a significant investment.
On Saturday, August 29th, from 5pm to 10pm, we will be bringing 3 local DJs, CRJ, AYEJAY, and GOOD AF to do a free EDM concert at DeCarli Plaza in Downtown Stockton. No tickets, no charge, just free music in the park. The plaza is open to the public and has benches and grass areas for people to come and have a picnic and enjoy the music. But the Plaza is also large enough with plenty of open space for a couple hundred people to gather in front of the stage and dance in the plaza.
We will be providing all of the sound. We invite any and everyone that is into house music, trap, bass, or dubstep, to come out, bring some friends, bring some snacks and refreshments and vibe out with us. Our goal is to create a culture that we can build upon and grow into incrementally larger events that will culminate in a street closure block party in front of the new court house with a lineup of big name DJs, food and drink vendors, port-o-potties, and everything you would get in a major market city.
This is one small step for Stockton, and hopefully we can turn it into a giant leap! We'll see you Saturday, August 29th! Into The Sunset