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. First held in 2010, it has since been held annually in September except 2020, when it was cancelled caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the 10th-anniversary edition of Wasteland Weekend was held from September 25 to September 29. The festival includes post-apocalyptic themed costumes, campsites and vehicles, live bands and DJs, fire, burlesque and other performers, and Jugger matches.
History
Wasteland Weekend has been held annually since 2010. The first Wasteland Weekend received media attention and a video greeting from George Miller, the Mad Max films director. It has grown from approximately 350 attendees in 2010 to approximately 4,300 in 2019. Drawing on Mad Max-themed events in other countries, as well as previous events known as "Roadwar USA", the first event was held in October in California City, California. It was organized by Karol Bartoszynski, Jared Butler and club promoterJim Howard. The event featured exhibitions of movie replica cars and bikes, a gyrocopter flyover, vendors, fire dancers, and contests. 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. By the tenth consecutive year in 2019, the event had over 4,300 participants. With 2020 being cancelled, the 11th was deferred to 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 subtitled "Mad Max fun in the California sun". Other influences include Wasteland and the Fallout series of video games.
In Media
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.
