Big Gigantic, STS9 and J. Worra are among the bands and artists that will play four different stages at the Lake Perris State Recreation Area for the September return of the Same Same But Different Arts & Music Festival — an event that will look a bit different due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The festival will run from Sept. 9-12 and will allow approximately 2,500 attendees. Organizers are already planning to implement multiple safeguards due to the coronavirus pandemic.
For now, festival goers will have to show proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test within the last week to enter. Otherwise, they will have to purchase a rapid test on-site. Social distancing will be encouraged; masks will be required in some areas; and guests will have the option to wear a special wristband that lets others around them know that they want space.
At the same time, festival organizers are trying to keep the camping and music festival light and fun.
“We’re trying to weigh in the balance between people enjoying themselves and having a great time and not feeling like you’re walking through multiple layers of security when you’re at a music festival, but also ensuring that we have safety and that we’re not contributing to the spread of the virus,” said Brad Sweet, the event’s co-producer.
He said the festival is going big this year on building its stages to accommodate some of the big-name acts it’s landed. Expect things such as lasers and LED screens.
Beyond the music, the festival includes other activities and amenities, including swimming in Lake Perris, boating, hiking, yoga and food trucks.
Same Same But Different is one of the newer festivals in Riverside County. It had its first iteration at Lake Perris in 2018 with with Lettuce, The Floozies and Trouble in the Wind and returned to the venue again 2019. It did not have a 2020 edition due to the pandemic.
Other acts on the bill for this year include Clozee, The Polish Ambassador, LSDREAM, Boombox, The Motet, Dirtwire and Moontricks. A full lineup with 20 additional names will be released later.
Tickets for the festival, which range in price from $185 to $225 and include camping amenities, go on sale Friday, April 9, at 1 p.m. via ssbdfest.com.
To help keep people spread further apart, Sweet said there will be more space around each of the four stages this year in order to help keep people from congregating in the same spot.
He said that because Perris Beach is so large and the crowd size will be in the lower thousands, it should be easy for attendees to keep their distance from one another.
However, in areas where it’s harder to distance, people will be required to wear masks.
There will be a “Greet at 6 Feet” wristband that festival goers can request that will signify to others at the festival that those individuals want at least six feet of space around them.
Room for adjustment
What the pandemic will look like in the months to come remains a big question mark for festival organizers as restrictions change regularly.
Riverside County, like its neighbors, has been able to have limited capacity outdoor live events as of April 1. The county is currently in the red coronavirus tier (substantial risk), which means outdoor venues can allow 20% of their normal capacity, but that cap will be 33% when Riverside moves into the orange tier (moderate risk) and 67% when it moves into the yellow tier (minimal risk).
And though Same Same But Different lists safeguards in its news release, specifics on some of those safeguards still need to be hammered out.
For example, Sweet said organizers were looking at two options for what to do about people coming in and out of the festival and possibly being exposed to coronavirus while they’re out. He said one option might be to not allow exit and reentry and another might be to test people multiple times as they come in and out.
Sweet says he’s been in talks with both Riverside County and the state park about the festival, but did not say what suggestions or guidance either has offered in terms of how to operate the festival safely.
“I think there’s suggestions out right now but I don’t know what that’s going to look like in six months,” Sweet said. “This just keeps changing so fast. We all just kind of have initial direction and are planning for that but also planning for where things might go in the future as well. We’re trying to keep a pulse on technologies and what’s being done in other areas as well.”
Same Same But Different is not the only festival still planning things out.
This announcement follows one last week by the producers of Hard Summer about the San Bernardino County festival’s planned lineup for the weekend of July 31, but details on safety precautions still remain scarce.
And there are still questions about when the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and its sister event, the Stagecoach Country Music Festival, might return to Indio after their April 2021 dates were canceled after an order signed by former Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser.
But while there’s still some wiggle room and some details to be finalized for Same Same But Different, Sweet said he’s excited about putting on a festival in 2021.
“I think that people need this more than ever, coming out of the year that we just had,” he said. “When we get to that point, just seeing smiling faces together again, enjoying music — I think it’s a bit of a spiritual connection — I’m really excited to see that.”
