Never Say Never Festival


Never Say Never Festival was an annual music festival which began March 18, 2009, in Mission, Texas. The festival featured bands of many different genres. The first Never Say Never festival hosted 30 bands on 2 stages, including Forever the Sickest Kids, Anarbor, NeverShoutNever!, A Skylit Drive, Drop Dead, Gorgeous, LMFAO and The Scene Aesthetic.
The 2010 and 2011 festivals followed on March 17, 2010 and March 15, 2011.

Naming The Festival

The name "Never Say Never" was chosen by festival organizers Zar Castillo and George Culberson in response to all the people that told them that they would never be able to bring down incredible bands to South Texas.

2010 Festival

The 2010 festival was held on March 17, 2010. It hosted 40 bands of different genres on 3 stages. The festival featured a vendor village, that hosted shops like Monikapolitan.com and eleven apparel.

2016 Controversy and Demise

The final Never Say Never Festival took place on March 16, 2016 at Las Palmas Racepark in Mission, TX. The festival was marred by technical issues, high-risk investments and low attendance which resulted in many of the artists having their set times cut short and not being paid in full for their performances.
In response to the controversy following the 2016 Never Say Never Festival, Matt Carter of Emery hosted an episode of his podcast "Break It Down with Matt Carter" with his bandmates. In a follow-up episode, Carter interviewed promoter Zar Castillo to clear the air and give Castillo a chance to share his side of the story and what reparations were being made to pay the bands who performed.

List of lineups by year

Band20092010201120122013201420152016
Abandon All Ships
Alesana
Allstar Weekend
All Time Low***
Anberlin*
Animals as Leaders
Artist Vs. Poet
Asking Alexandria
A Skylit Drive
Attack Attack!
Attila
AudioDax
Beaches
Being As an Ocean
Big Chocolate
Black Cards
Born of Osiris
Breathe Carolina
Breathe Electric
Bring Me the Horizon*
Bury Tomorrow
Cady Groves
Capital Cities
Captain Midnite
Capture the Crown
Cartel
Casino Madrid
Chase the Lights
Chelsea Grin
Chiodos
Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
Cisco Adler
Close To Home
Closure In Moscow
Counterparts
Crizzly
Comeback Kid
Crown The Empire
Crystal Vision
Curren$y*
Curtains
Dance Gavin Dance
Das Racist
Deftones
Dev*
Dignan
DJ Exceed
Donnis
Don Trip
Driver Friendly
Drop Dead, Gorgeous
DWNTWN
Emery
Emmure
Enter Shikari*
Envy on the Coast
Escape the Fate*
Even Cameras Lie
Evergreen Terrace
Every Avenue
Fall From Grace
Farewell Fighter
Fat Tony
Fear Before
Fences
Fit For A King
For All Those Sleeping
Forever The Sickest Kids*
For The Fallen Dreams
For Today
Foxy Shazam
G-Eazy
Gentlemen Hall
Gilbere Forte'
Glass Cloud
Goldenwest
Goldhouse
Hail the Sun
halos
Hands Like Houses
Hearts & Hands
Hector Leal
Hellogoodbye*
Hey Monday
Hoodie Allen
Hopsin
Hundredth
Hydra Melody
Hyper Crush
Ice Nine Kills
Illustrated
InDirections
In Fear and Faith
I See Stars
I Set My Friends On Fire
Issues
I the Mighty
Iwrestledaberaonce
Jesse Marco
Jonny Craig
Juicy J
K.Flay
Kelley James
Kids At The Bar
Kurt Travis
letlive.
Like Moths to Flames
Lions Lions
LMFAO***
Lower Thank Atlantis
Machine Gun Kelley
Macklemore
Mac Miller*
Make Me Famous
Mann
Mansions
Marky
Master Shorite
Miami Horror
Miss May I
Mod Sun
Motionless In White
MyChildren MyBride
Myka, Relocate
My Iron Lung
My Ticket Home
Neon Trees
Never Shout Never
New Country
Not So Lucky
Oceano
Of Mice & Men
Oh, Sleeper
Oh Snap!!
Outasight
Phone Calls From Home
Pierce The Veil
Places and Numbers
Plug In stereo
Riff Raff
Rocky Loves Emily
Rumors
Santino Noir
Scarlet O'Hara
Secret Secret Dino Club
Set It Off
Shwayze
Simple As Surgery
Sing It Loud
Skizzy Mars
Skrillex***
Sleeping With Sirens
Speak
Starting Six
Stay
Stephen Jerzak
Stick To Your Guns
Swimming With Dolphins
Sworn In
T. Mills
Taylor Thrash
The Amity Affliction
The Audition
The Bigger Lights
The Broken Poetz
The Cataracs
The Color Morale
The Crimson Armada
The Devil Wears Prada
The Downtown Fiction
The Early November
The Faceless
The Fall of Troy
The Friday Night Boys
The Goodnight
The Hi-Yahs
The Limousines
The Maine*
The Medic Droid
The Morning Light
The Ready Set
The Seeking
The Reocketboys
The Scene Aesthetc
The Summer Set
The White Panda
The Word Alive
This Year's Fashion
Travie McCoy
Trivium*
Twin Atlantic
Upon A Burning Body
Vales
Vanna
VersaEmerge
Vicente Gayo
Vonnegutt
We Are The In Crowd
We Butter the Bread With Butter
We Came As Romans
Within the Ruins
Wiz Khalifa***
Woe, Is Me
You, Me, And Everyone We Know
Young Statues