This is my 3rd year attending Kaaboo. Each year the festival organizers seem to solicit feedback and make improvements the following year. I have no idea complaints about security. On the first day my husband's wristband wouldn't scan at the entrance. A Kaaboo staff member quickly stepped up to us and assisted. I really appreciate that she was there and available to help. I liked the variety of music. The bathrooms and grounds were kept clean. The food wasn't great and it was pricey but what you would expect at an event like this. The drinks again are not cheap but this is what I expected. Here is something that I hated. $50 for one day parking??!?!? At first I thought the attendant said $15 but nope, it was $50. To me that is steep. I also was disappointed that the Verizon tent didn't clearly post the requirements for admission. I sat at Grandview all day on Friday and had no idea I could have accessed that tent. What I wish they would do is come up with a better plan for the end of the night. The traffic getting out has always been a nightmare. I think they could alleviate some by issuing some sort of reservation similar to Disneyland's fast pass. If you show up at your reserved time at the rideshare location then you get priority in getting a car. That way you could stagger the guests leaving. My friend also had an idea to show movies on the stages after the last musical act. Sell food and drinks and that might also help stagger the guests leaving. They need to come up with a better system because people don't want to wait hours in the parking lot after a long day. read more

Overall Sound WAS AWFUL... I've been to many music festivals, bigger and smaller than Kaaboo. This was my first visit to Kaaboo. I attended all 3 days of the event. The main stage sounded decent, but even then the crowd conversations around me were louder than the performers. It was sad, unless you were placed directly below a set of speakers (which there wasn't many of) the volume was so poor, you couldn't even make out what song was being played. Incubus set was ruined for me, was about midway back in the audience, could barely hear them. Most of Cakes set was inaudible....there were some high points of the weekend, cashless wristbands are a great feature, the silent disco area was great, the food and beverage vendors were great...all in all I think the event was misrepresented in the promos...there is no beach front view, the festival grounds are 90% pavement, and the security/event staff are pleasant but many are not paying much attention....the whole thing felt thrown together...there wasn't close to enough seating areas, and the layout of stage placement was really tight feeling...overall I was completely dissatisfied with the price I paid versus the product that was delivered...will not be coming back. read more

KaaBoo Bullet points: Security, I walked thru a metal detector to get into the venue. San Diego sheriffs department were walking around with assault rifles. Good for them, good for us! Additionally, everybody I talked to was super cool.. I didn't see anybody being combative, but it's a three day party with booze and heat I'm sure some people got shitty... Traffic/ Uber Sux, other posts are accurate. If you're not fit enough to walk a mile or two don't go to the event. park offsite! Stages and viewing Show up early to the shows or enjoy nosebleed viewing and low-volume acoustics What do you want for $300? Hang 5 was the shit! For most shows in Hang 5, I was looking at the band not a screen and was about 15 rows from the stage, short drink lines, ac bathroom nice! Shade and seats (some) Back to acoustics The sound systems at every stage was so clean...got to love digital. I could here the kick ass guitar player from Mr. Robert Plant fingers slide up his strings to fire off his next cord...so cool. Bands ( all of them!) Diverse, tight, entertaining, suck you in, engaging, upbeat messages and stories to the fans... that works for me. Tons of pretty people... girls, you looked hot! Conclusion I will go to this event every year for the rest of my life. It's a fun ass party a stones throw from the ocean in Del Mar...Hell yea For the haters ...Perhaps you would have more fun with dust, hay and 110° weather out at stagecoach.... FYI, I'm not hating on stagecoach. It's kick ass also.. shuck my corn For the non- haters... I jumped around and danced with a lot of you. Thank you for sharing the good time with me. See you again next year! Not to be forgotten.... I heard Robert Plant sing about eight Led Zeppelin songs. How do you even put a price on that! The guy is a giant... read more

After thoroughly enjoying the last 2 years at Kaaboo, management completely wrecked all the way that made Kaaboo special - all in one year. Here are the 5 ways management ruined #Kaaboo in 2019: 1. Hot Black Asphalt Last year they moved the #2 Stage to the parking lot and it became mostly a hot black asphalt destination, this year all 3 main stages was on hot black asphalt instead of the traditional sand gravel mixture. On sand gravel, you can sit down and not burn your butt or ruin your clothing. And when someone spills a drink on sand gravel, it doesn't spread to people next door like on hot black asphalt. Del Mar California is not known for hot black asphalt, so why would organizers change the entire venue to hot black Asphalt? So disappointing! 2. They Built A Berlin Wall In the past, all ticket holders (hang loose, hang 5 and hang 10) all pretty much shared the same food venues, the same bathrooms and the same stages. But the more expensive tickets had a reserved, better seating area on 1/2 of front area. But now organizers have taken a huge step and separated the entire fairgrounds into the haves (hand five and hang ten ticket owners) and the have nots - with a completely off-limit food, bathroom area (the whole paddock area) including the #4 stage. So there are less bathrooms, less food vendors, less artwork, and generally every single thing is now worse on the hang loose side of the wall. I can't speak for the other side of the wall but it really sucks that organizers went this route. Instead a warm communal feel to the whole experience, I came away so saddened that the old fun cool Kaaboo of the past has reverted to barricaded classes. 3. Bathroom Nightmare At the main stage, there used to be a large area of trailered bathrooms. Now everyone following those sighs ends up at a small building with only a few stalls for a crowd of 10,000+???? Yes they put some trailer bathrooms farther away in the old chill lounge (but they are too far away and WE LOST THE CHILL LOUNGE!!!). Due to this (and the Berlin Wall sealing off other bathrooms), all other bathrooms were unusually crowded. Palate building men's bathroom was overflowing and closed by 3pm, even forced open and used anyway but desperate people that had to go. Notice to vendors: many of us purchased many fewer drinks this year because of the shortage of clean and functional bathrooms. 4. Stage Changes Are Terrible In the past there were always 4 separated stages at different places on the venue which, often meant that 4 events could go simultaneously. Now, they took away the paddock stage by building the Berlin Wall, and the moved the #3 stage into the same large hit asphalt parking lot as the #2 stage. And it's so close, they can't have both playing at the same time! Space where #3 was is still there and was a nice stop right in between stage #1 and stage #2. 5. Can never open on time Every year, Kaaboo could never open the gates on time. Always 30 - 40 minutes late while thousands stand in the hot sun. And this year, the 4th year, same thing. By the 4th year and even with a later start time, still the same 40 minute delay while we cook in the sun. After promoting Kaaboo as a Southern California unique concert venue and experience for years to anyone that would listen, the organizers have totally ruined it in one single year!! At least for the hang loose ticket buyers. Music is still pretty good but the crowds are not as happy on hot black asphalt and I suspect the artists can feel that. Such a shame that management doesn't understand the principles of product development and didn't involve experienced concert goers in their planning. Otherwise they would have known they were wrecking our beloved SoCal music event. RIP #Kaaboo. read more

Ok so I enjoyed myself BUT worst one by far. No AC in comedy section-had to leave. No sand. $45 to park. Most intimate stage discontinued. Long lines, not enough food trucks. Poor Friday and Sunday lineups. No personality. Moving to Petco Park I hear so I see they're cashing in by minimizing costs. No thanks next year. read more

I'm extremely disappointed in the event this year. After having a great time last year, I've been telling anyone who will listen that they should give it a try but NOT anymore. The greed and arrogance of event organizers lead them to over book the festival knowing that hardly a fraction of paying customers would be able to see the acts. Even worse than that they provided absolutely no crowd control putting patrons, event staff, and even law enforcement, who swooped in to clean up the mess they created, in legitimate danger. Many people are probably very upset with the sheriffs about what happened last night but it is the event organizers who are to blame. Having been one of the people nearly trampled outside the encore building, after being allowed to stand in a giant formless clump with hundred of other people for over an hour with no direction or communication, I can say that people were angry and upset because they didn't know what was going on and simply wanted to get what they paid for. There was no area set up for a line of any kind, event staff were were not talking to patrons (probably because the poor souls had no answers and also feared for their safety), and now that the debacle has taken place Kaaboo social media is radio silent. They need to take responsibility for the extreme negligence that took place last night and they should be punished or fined in some way for putting so many people at risk. It's disrespectful to your patrons and to the artist who come to perform for the event to be so poorly set up. I had hang 5 "VIP" passes and it afforded me very little perks for the crazy price we paid (over $2,000 for two of us in case anyone is wondering not to mention hotel accommodations or food). Organizers were so busy catering to the hang 10 VIPs that they completely neglected everyone else. If I had known that It was necessary to spend $2,500 each like them in order to have a semblance of the advertised experience I would have stayed home and planned a real vacation with my savings. I won't even address the ridiculousness that went on in the parking lot afterwards because it's just more of the same. I highly doubt the event will even be approved for next year and if it does I will not be coming because the incompetence is down right dangerous. I don't expect that they will try to make this right with people but it would be really nice if they did. #Kaaboo #KaabooDelmar #Kaaboo2016 #Kaatastrophe #KaabooFail #BlameKaaboo #RefundPlease read more

Kaaboo goers - BEWARE of pick pockets!!! My iphone and camera were stolen from my purse @ Encore 9/16/16, as well as other girls's that same night. Discover SD magazine advertises that kaaboo's "target audience (is) a more affluent and somewhat older clientele" and that, "it's clear there's a sizable number of people who will pay, and pay very well, for extra creature comforts". These statements have attracted lowlife thieves who aim to prey off of any kaaboo clientele, regardless of their financial standings. This is, after all, a "sophisticated, borderline festival approach aimed at drawing discerning crowds, not just moccasin-wearing 20-somethings". I encountered several girls that same evening in a similar state of shock, wandering around looking at the floor with a flashlight, having had their phones stolen as well. Someone is specifically targeting the kaaboo population, and you should guard your purse with your life. Or, perhaps don't set foot on kaaboo property at all. The staff member I spoke with at Encore upon noticing this theft, a "manager" of the bar mind you, told me that there was nothing she could do, and furthermore, she "didn't care". I was completely taken aback by this. Refer me to lost and found, transfer me to a higher authority, go up your chain of command... something. This is what any reasonable customer service entails. No, she flat out said, "There's nothing I can do, and personally I don't give a shit". When she saw the shock on my face at hearing this, she gave me a thumbs up signal. I tried to keep the discussion human, in mentioning that if this type of thing had happened to her, or anyone else she knew for that matter, how would she feel? Again, I was given the thumbs up sign, and was basically disrespected and turned away. Excellent professionalism. Point being - don't expect any help, or even sympathy, should this ever happen to you. Unless you are of the "affluent" crowd that doesn't mind paying $12 for a shitty beer or $14 for a tiny glass of wine, my advice is this: save your $ for a less chaotic, less crowded festival with a better lineup. Don't waste your money on an overpriced southern california music festival that boasts that they "are looking to take the concept of a music festival to the next level" in the first place. ** oh and please excuse any kaaboo misspellings, as my computer has wanted to change it to kabob every time read more

What a joke! The concerts were great - the logistics were beyond miserable! From closing the main bathrooms in O'Brien hall as soon as Aerosmith was finished to letting Uber and Lyft drivers use the only exits out of the parking lot while the rest of us sat parked for over 1.5 hours! Insane and ridiculous! I will petition to never allow these people to run a concert here again. We paid $30 for reserved parking and were relegated to the dirt parking lot under the main road and then couldn't get out due to the preferential treatment of Uber/Lyft drivers. read more

Sure, the music acts are fantastic. But where shall I begin? They won't let uber drive up to the venue, but instead have a hub for drop off and pick up. Well we had to walk a city block to get in to the venue, and then all the way around the race track to get to the uber hub after the show, up some stairs to the street, where uber drivers were lined up on the street bumper to bumper not able to get to the hub. There were supposed to be trams running to take people around the race track, but they were none running on Friday night. We had to walk away from the fairgrounds to a McDonald's parking lot after our race track death march to get an Uber. Drivers would be ticketed for picking up or dropping off anywhere around the fairgrounds besides the hub. I had a 3 day hang 5 pass. The only perk I have above s much less expensive hang loose pass is getting access to an area where I can stand/ sit on fake grass instead of dirt or concrete. The event hosts made it sound like this pass would be a VIP experience with limited number of guests, special bathrooms, shorter lines.... there are thousands of these passes sold so that isn't the case at all. We are having fun anyway now that we've gone into the festival mode of milling around like s bunch of minions. We figured out a shorter route to walk off grounds to another place of business where we could pick up an Uber without anyone getting ticketed. read more

I was on pick up duty to pick for Kaboo. It was a total NIGHTMARE and so dangerous. I couldn't believe they had no traffic cops directing us when I got off the freeway at Via de la Valle at 10pm There were cars trying to leave, cars still coming in. The worst and most dangerous part was pedestrians were all over the place, running in between cars. It took me over 1 1/2 hours after I got off freeway, go to pick up lot, pick up, turn around, and then back on freeway. Cleary NEGATIVE reviews on organizers are spot on!! Never again! read more

Staying up reading the KAABOO's reviews and horror stories is I have to say kind of addicting, sad, humorous, & terrifying all at the same time. My emotions are kind of mixed here because in my personal experience I had a good time until 11:00 pm & that's when the shit hit the fan. My friends & I got to KAABOO from OC & it took about 1 & 1/2 hours to finally get parking on the dirt lot. We took the tram, one of my friends had to pick up his wristband from will call, then it took 45 minutes to get thru the metal detectors and quick bag search. Not bad but then we had to wait in line to get our alcohol wristbands & beer. More long ass lines!!! We caught the last part of Gin Blossom's set then push our way thru the crowd to the front for Flo Rida who was like 20 minutes late. Flo Rida put on a great show and got the crowd entertained except for the douche bag wearing the baseball cap with an orange shirt around his neck trying to start some shit with my friend. That asshole was about to get beat down by my friends and I but we let it go because we wanted to have fun & not get kicked out but he definitely deserved an ass-whopping! The crowd was closely packed & very pushy. We left the Grandview stage and got caught up in the bottlenecks so we only caught the last song "Semi-Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind at the Sunset Cliffs stage. We stuck around for Lenny Kravitz's set which was awesome & got even closer up for Aerosmith's set which was truly amazing up front. It was all-good up until Aerosmith finished. I went to go buy a T-shirt for a friend but it was $40 which was a rip-off. Stayed in more lines to get 4 slices of pizza for $8 each for a small ass piece ($32 total) & they were out of pepperoni and a Pepsi for $5. Everything was so jacked up in price. Only silver lining was the hydration station to fill your water bottle with tap water but line was still long. The bathrooms are nicer than Coachella's nasty port-a-potties. It was hard to find places to sit & too many people everywhere. The Humor Me line for Sarah Silverman was super long so we decided to go to Encore for Ludacris & Steve Aoki. Oh man, was that a big mistake. There were even longer lines and chaos everywhere. We got there & saw like 7 police cars lined up & helicopter overhead telling people to leave. I guess there were so many unruly concert goers pissed off that they can't get into the building because it was at capacity. The cops pepper sprayed & maced them & I haven't seen so many people affected by that. It felt like a complete riot with all the sirens and police with their batons out pushing the crowd back. People had to go to the hydration station to wash out their eyes from the pepper spray. Girls were crying & guys were yelling & screaming in agony. It was a very crazy scene to witness and I was glad that I avoided all of that since I got there later. Parking was a bitch to get out and it took about 45 minutes to get out since I got lucky & parked in the dirt lot & escaped thru the back way. I heard the 3 hours horror stories. KAABOO had really shitty organization for the venue crowd control & parking lot staff. KAABOO definitely oversold Saturday tickets & there were lines for everything. The music was excellent but I probably won't come back due to the lack of organization! #EndRant read more

This is my first time at KAABOO for all three days. I had friends in town as well and we went together. Saturday was the worst experience and the event was highly disorganized. The last concert we attended was Aerosmith, and after that we were unable to see RAC or Ludacris due to capacity issues. We couldn't even cross the pathway since it was overwhelmingly busy. If there was an emergency, there was no way with as many people, anyone could escape safely. I am very upset that I spent over $300 and was unable to see everyone I wanted to. This is not good service and poorly organized. read more

Music was 3 stars but what really tweaked me was the lack of signage and the map. And how about having different colored signs for the food vendors vs the art vendors inside the Main Hall? I couldn't tell an independent artist from a burrito joint. That is basic event planning. Come on. This has turned into a brand fiesta meaning many brands fight and clamor to hawk or sell their wares or promote a new flavor. If they would focus on the basic block and tackle like differentiating sign colors, not having such a a goat rodeo for Uber pickup and drop off, and having someone proof the map before they print it, it would be a much better event. 2 years ago when I helped a brand launch a booth (experience) at the event I was impressed with the Kaaboo folks I met with. But clearly they must have left because many things were overlooked. My registered wristband NEVER worked (despite the app telling me my band was registered) so so much for cashless transactions. Thank god i had credit cards on me or I would have been screwed. And there weren't separate lines for cashless transactions like they advertised (see: Lollapalooza does this right), and this created long lines for food and drink. The bars were understaffed and understocked. This event really needs some serious help in terms of planning and refining the details. Who makes a #1 designating a theater the same background color as the tan track they printed the number on? This is basic shit. Because of the use of same colors, we absolutely couldn't find stage #1 and had to ask Guest services and it took her a while to find it, too. If someone would have proofed that map (like a potential guest), this would have been avoided. Again, freshman mistakes. read more

This review is coming from a person who LOVES music festivals. I live for music festivals, in fact this was my 8th music festival experience. I've been to Coachella 3 times and Outside Lands 3 times, so I can really compare and contrast between the festivals. I'm going to start off by saying that Kaaboo was overpriced and the lineup just didn't measure up to Coachella or Outside Lands. I paid less than than $300 for my 3-day Outside Lands 2015 pass and who were the headliners? Some very small and unknown bands named Mumford & Sons and The Black Keys. And who closed the festival? Some guy named Elton John, no big deal. The passes for Kaaboo were $299 without the fees, and the headliners just didn't compare to the other music festivals that have a similar price range. I love the Killers, they're my favorite band but they're no Paul McCartney which has performed at both Coachella and Outside Lands. From the moment that I stepped foot at the festival I knew that this was organized by someone who doesn't know much about music festivals. It seemed like it was trying way too hard to be up scale, when the reality is that people who come to music festivals expect to get sweaty and dirty. If I want to go chill by the pool, I'll just go to a hotel not a music festival. The VIP area was just what you would expect, rich North County people who were incredibly stuck up and rude to the bands. You know things are bad when both The Killers and Ben Harper call out the VIP section for just standing around with no interest. The food at Kaaboo was also incredibly overpriced to the point that I couldn't even wrap my head around it. I paid $12 for a plate of fries with nacho cheese on them, and that was one of the more "affordable" options which made me feel completely ripped off. The second day I settled for a slice of pizza which happened to be cold and stale. I also checked out the indulgences area which offered fancy cheese platters and an $8 slice of the tiniest grilled cheese imaginable. Honestly with those prices I'd rather just go to the restaurant beforehand and stuff my face so I can be good for the rest of the day. By the third day and last day I just snuck sandwiches in because I wasn't going to pay $8 for another slice of cold pizza. I really wish they would change the rules like Outside Lands who lets you bring in unopened food into the festival. Another big complaint is the parking. Oh man, I could talk about the parking forever! You know when things are not going well when the parking lots are practically empty when compared to the fair season. It was $80 to park inside of the fairgrounds and $30 for the lot that's typically free during fair season. Yes, $30 to park around 2 miles away from the venue! At least the shuttle was "free" but it was a complete waste of money. Save the time and money and just get Uber/Lyft to the fairgrounds, there's a designated area not too far away. To be honest, this festival just gave me Street Scene vibes. Whoever organized this event got even more cocky than the Street Scene organizers and look at them now, their last year in business was back in 2009. Why? One of the factors was the high ticket prices for the 2-day festival. Once again the prices were too high for the acts that were on the lineup. Does this sound familiar? If they don't bring in bigger names to the lineup then I can expect the demise of Kaaboo. Music fans are not going to spend $300+ on a 3-day pass that doesn't include a big name and by now people want to see a huge act for that kind of money. And if you want people to travel from Los Angeles, Baja California, and other parts of the west coast, then you NEED not one but several big name acts. That's how you assure that the festival is going to sell out! You know it's not a good sign when festival passes end up on Groupon. I had a good time at Kaaboo, but it was mainly because of the company I was with and the fact that I got to see The Killers and Joel McHale. If you want this festival to become the next Coachella or even Outside Lands, the festival passes pricing needs to match up with the lineup. A $300+ pass needs to guarantee a big name, not just contemporary bands with a decent fan base. Not every fan is willing to shell out $300 or $100 for a very short set. Also, something needs to be done about the food since it was incredibly overpriced. The 2016 dates were announced on the last day of the festival and honestly I'm not sure if I'm willing to give Kaaboo another shot. It will all depend on how strong the lineup is, but I wouldn't pull a cold turkey and get passes before the lineup is released like I've done with Outside Lands. By now I don't mind traveling to San Fran from San Diego because I'm in love with both their lineup and the whole Outside Lands festival experience. We'll have to wait and see how things go but I can assure you this, Kaaboo is NO Coachella or Outside Lands. Kaaboo wants to be those festivals but it really fell short. read more

An overpriced waste of time. Horrible organization, lack of bathrooms, and a danger to public safety. Buyer beware.

I wrote a review of Kaboo 2016.. it looks like they deleted a lot of bad reviews because there was just so many probably.. Okay so this year it looks like they aren't even selling 1 day tickets. But even if they were, I wouldn't buy it. Last year there was NO crowd/traffic control at all, with masses of people stuck in certain places and no one moving, there were a lot of bad audio/sound problems, and everything was overpriced. Ask anyone who went last year.. it was horrible.. I doubt it would be worth the money this year. Just a warning read more

BOO for sure! Emailed them about crowd control, overlapping set times, stage distance, traffic flow, nothing done. They assured they were working on it. Watching Muse and hey, Pink is on a half a mile away. Rich Delmarians complained about noise, so they muffled the sound. If you weren't 10 feet from the stage, it sounded like a transistor radio playing. Move locations, or give it up, I came to hear music... The cluster to get in and out of Hang 5/10 is a riot waiting to happen. Exits blocked by Hang Looser's trying to hear the muffled band. Security and Sheriff shrugged their shoulders and agreed, and said there's nothing they can do. Really? I'm a music festival whore, but won't be back after two years of aggravation. KAAWASTE of money, time, and energy. read more

Wow. A lot of negative reviews. I don't get it. Kaaboo was fantastic. Well planned, the food was great and varied and the bathrooms were clean. There was comedy, art, silent disco and cool happenings all over. The music had something for everybody. I love the fact that you can see new acts like x ambassadors and Logic. And throw backs like Janes Addiction, Michael McDonald, Tom Petty. Etc etc I was in the hang 10 area and everybody I talked too thought it was mostly awesome. Everybody looked like they were having a good time. Yes it was a little pricey, but being from out of state so is everything else In Southern Ca. I don't think it was that much more expensive than any other festival that I attended. Security was fine. I do like the fact that there was bomb sniffing dogs there. (They weren't drug sniffing like the previous bad review mentioned. ) I know because I asked. My most negative experiences there were from the people attending the show. People getting way to drunk and being disrespectful to others. Why do you blame the festival when people drink too much and throw up? Why it the festivals fault when people degrade the security guards for not letting the in where they don't belong? Really, where is the love out there? I don't understand some of the venom in these negative reviews. My guess is they are from some of same people I mentioned in the paragraph above. But after reading them I decided to post this one positive one. Kaaboo you rocked it!!!! read more

I've read all the other reviews and I agree with most of them. The line up was OK but kind of similar in genre and with the overlapping show times, it made it virtually impossible see the entire act before going on to the next. I had to miss the end of Jane's Addiction to get to the Wallflowers with any hope of actually seeing the band and then less than halfway into the Wallflowers show, there was mass exodus so people could get to see Pink. Jacob Dylan even mentioned it - tried to make some jokes about it, but when there was only maybe 200 people left in the VIP area and a huge expanse of grassy area back to the fence where I, and a very few stragglers stayed to the end of the show - well, it looked terrible. Can't imagine how bad it looked to the artist...pretty sad. And during one of the comedy shows - scheduled to end at 5:15, people were leaving in droves before 5 to get to the next show. Really ruined the energy of the show and I can't imagine how hard it was for the comedian to see the audience clear out! Yes....parking was a joke. So expensive to park in the mud pretty far from the entrance and then the horrid jam to get out of the lot. For the last 2 days, we parked a mile away and walked in. A big waste of money, but much preferred over sitting in the traffic jam for an hour. The food was hit or miss and yes, the drinks expensive - and supplies scarce of the last day. But, the bars were plentiful and the lines were always pretty short. Yes....security was a joke too! Going in the gate, I was asked to open my backpack but no one really looked inside it. My only contraband was a protein bar! Kind of funny for me, but potentially very dangerous. Lastly, the viewing screens at the headljner's stage were ridiculous.....only showing a narrow portion of the stage and one person at a time. You couldn't see the band interacting with each other or what the stage design even looked like - unless, of course you were right up front. For example: Red Hot Chili Peppers are so fun to see - their antics on stage, etc., but you could only see one guy at a time.....I feel like those of us far back missed a lot of the on-stage magic. I was really looking forward to this event, but I probably won't go again. Too many negatives and not enough positives. Too bad. read more

So disappointing. Excellent lineup if you could see or hear them, which most of the time you couldn't. Way oversold tickets, and the bottleneck to get into/out of anywhere was absurd. Saw lots of people having panic attacks, very negative energy overall. Oh, and people, don't bring your little kids to Kaboo, they'll be so much happier at home with a babysitter 2-1/2 hours to get out of the parking lot with my poor uber driver, and the ride home that should have been $25 ended up costing $90. I suspect greed played a large hand in the horrible mess that Kaboo turned into on year 2. I would never go back, and will make certain to tell all of my friends. I would recommend you bring in professionals to run this show, Kaboo. You clearly are not read more

Total shit show. Very unorganized event. Artists were a good pick but delivery was really disappointing. Sound was really quiet if you weren't in front. Not worth ticket price, even for just a day. Impossible to walk in a timely manner between stages. Food options were great, food and drinks the most over priced I've ever seen. Also stood in line for 15 minutes to do an ID check only to get asked for my ID at every drink purchase. Bottlenecks were everywhere. Walking, driving, no go. Venue location cannot handle capacity. Turned away from final shows (Ludacris, Steve Aoki etc). Spent 1.5 hours in the parking lot trying to get out, abandoned car and walked across the highway to get picked up by a friend instead. I hope to never return, such a shame. read more

The line up may be good, but the organization is not. The festival is new and obstacles are expected so you have to be patient with lines and know it's possible shows will be canceled (which isn't always in their control) but this year they aren't selling day passes and that was a major mistake on the organization's part. Not sure what the intent behind this is since many of the people that go to this festival are locals who just want to go for a day to see a particular band, but this decision has definitely negatively impacted the view of the festival. I wish I could just go for the Red Hot Chili Peppers but $300 is not worth going for one day. Super lame Kaaboo, super super lame. read more

What a total disaster!!! Last year was so great and this year they totally blew it except for the musicians. They broke ADA laws, jammed people into areas that weren't safe. I'm hip to their motive, they are looking for investors and wanted to show a huge money gross. They risked people's lives. I hope they learn from this and they may be hearing from my ADA lawyer as I was one of the people held hostage at the handicap seating being told if I went to the bathroom I was giving up my seat. Unbelievable! To top it off, Saturday night, after paying $35 to park in the dirt, the shuttle was shut down and even though I have a broken foot I was told I had to walk to my car! The food was grossly overpriced and really, really bad. The bands were great. Rock on read more

I'm here and there aren't enough restrooms! We stood in a line then they closed it! Really? Will I be paying this and not have enough facilities read more

Incredible poor management. The amount of people and the management of crowds was awful. That combined with obscene $12 beers and $18 drinks is unacceptable. So many people and so expensive it ruined the experience. read more

My issue is not with Kaboo, but with the company that runs it, The Madison Companies. I was offered a temp-to-hire job with them and the day before I was supposed to start, I was told that the job has been put on hold indefinitely because they want to hire us permanently. A week and a half later, I was given the "our most SINCERE apologies, but..." BS and informed that the position had been eliminated because they couldn't afford to pay it. You know, something they should've figured out BEFORE they hired 6 or 7 people. The way this company treated me and the other people they agreed to hire is beyond unacceptable. I waited almost two weeks, two weeks that I could have used to search for another job, something with a legitimate company that has its act together and doesn't string new hires along with false promises. To Madison/Kaabooworks: I and several others were relying on a position that you dangled in front of our faces like a carrot, and you just led us on. We were counting on this job, and you just lied to us. To anyone who is considering working for this joke of a company or attending its events: DON'T. They place ZERO value on other human beings. They are completely unethical, unorganized, unreliable, and dishonest. read more

I had the unfortunate luck of choosing to spend Saturday at Kaaboo. This was not my first music festival, but the first for the friends I convinced to join on our very short trip to San Diego. Between acts being cancelled,a near riot, never-ending lines for everything from wristbands to drinks to parking the entire experience was a nightmare. Some of the challenges I encountered were as follows: -Wristband pick up had no exit. The same crowd in line was faced with the line leaving. Extremely tight, claustrophobic feeling and unnecessary. -Long line to enter through security -Long line for ID Check - couldn't this have been coupled with wristband pick up since ID's were being checked there as well eliminating a line? -Long line for drinks - 30 minutes for a cocktail only to find you could have purchased a cocktail at the beer and wine line. -Music could not be heard from the food booths at the main stage and grandview. This is a bit of an inconvenience when you are waiting in line for 30 minutes and can see the stage but not hear the artist -Stages were too small for the size of acts that were performing - Goo Goo Dolls was like a mosh pit. Aoki line was ridiculous. This day was oversold and understaffed. -Aerosmith and Chainsmokers were on at the exact same time - why? The flow from the end of these two shoes created a massive bottleneck and headache. -Vendors at the Posh Nosh were using their bare hands to touch food and collect payment (gross). I experienced this at the Vietnamese booth on the left by the Brazilian food -Bathrooms had no soap, toilet paper or paper towels (varied from bathroom to bathroom) The biggest and most serious issue I faced was with trying to exit. I spent my last night in San Diego in a parking lot for HOURS. More than TWO HOURS without moving an inch. There were no updates to social media with the hold up? It was a terrifying experience to not be able to leave the Del Mar racetrack parking lot. People were leaving their cars to urinate in front of me and there was no one calm the crowd or explain what was going on. It wasn't until the back entrance was opened after TWO HOURS that we finally could move. There was no personnel or police of any kind to help facilitate the exit. I went on to social media to find that people were being pepper sprayed within the venue? Yet no word from Kaaboo as to why were not allowed to leave. I have been to Coachella and Life is Beautiful several times and I understand the different challenges that can occur at large festivals. However, this night was one of the worst experiences of my life, and I could have spent my last night in the city without the stress experienced at Kaaboo. read more

Was cool up until I wanted to go see Steve Aoki. They sold about 20k passes but only allowed about 4k people into the Encore club. Let people know there is a capacity! Felt so ripped off, I will not be returning unless they give me a discount for my Saturday show in 2016. Good luck leaving the festival, you aren't going to be moving for a few HOURS. read more

Ok I am updating my one star...this year was AMAZING. I have been three years in a row. Was very hesitant after being the melee with LUDACRIS last year...and missing the show. But this year it was Amazing we upgraded our tickets and well worth it. Thanks for the best weekend of 2017..... read more

Approaching 3 hours to leave 30.00 parking....won't be back. As we are trying to exit Grandview stage, they are lining up people for ludicrous show but walking opposite direction! It's like Lloyd and Harry are running the show laughing their a$$es off up there.... read more

1 hour to get out of Stables parking. Sitting here looking like 2 hours. Figure it out Morons.

Loved the bands I saw but the fact that they way oversold the event makes me feel like they weren't concerned about the safety of the concert goers. Last year was great, this year left me feeling like I won't go back. read more

Pricey. Opening an hour late. The NOLA Jazz & Heritage Festival it's not. Just a SoCal money grab. I'll do the weekend only because I already have the wristband but never again. read more

The line ups were great! I was a bit bummed that they had several great acts at the same time and I felt like we had to run across the whole fairgrounds to catch a few minutes of each. We live close, so I was dropped off which was great. Pick up was a whole other story. I didn't have it that bad, but drones of people trying to get Ubers, etc was a complete nightmare. Not sure why they don't have a buses that transport people from other lots like the Del Mar fair does. As for the negatives, a beer was $15. OMG. My biggest complaint was the bathroom situation, The lines were so long, it really affected us getting to see the next act. There is so much room at the venue, bring in twice as many portable restrooms. There were women going in the mens, it was a total mess. Please, please Kaaboo, double your restrooms and fix the transportation. We all paid a lot to have a great time! read more

This is a great music festival for people who love throwbacks and more chill vibes. If you are older, you will probably like it more. It is centered around other artists, lots of comedians, good food, and interesting art. It is like a Coachella for older people. What I did not like about this festival is that we bought the hang 10 passes and we were told that we were going to meet specific artists who never showed up to meet us. Otherwise, it was great. Awesome music, great side stage access and front stage access, good VIP areas, and fun meet and greets. The concierges really helped with everything and we had a lot of fun. Also, the hot air balloon that they were supposed to be running was not really working. It was really scary, we got out before it went up because it was very unsafe feeling. read more

Overcrowded, not enough exits and poor parking coordinating. Roughly 1.5 hours just to get out of the parking.

Loved the music, but the logistics were horrible. You literally could not move for 30 min to exit the venue and then trying to exit the parking lot is a joke---nearly 3h to get out! Completely ridiculous. Will not be back anytime soon and recommend against you buying tickets unless the organization gets it's stuff together. read more

Parking sucked. Poor end to a great day - spending 2 1/2 hours to get out of the parking lot. Organizers planned poorly. I just read the other reviews. I had heard last year was great so flew down from Northern California (after selling my Stanford - USC football tickets. Worst decision ever!) to go with my brother and sister in law. Was so excited for Saturday. No such thing as crowd control - narrow walkways just got so crowded, no one moved. Bathrooms closed at the end of the night, and the open ones were so gross! Waited in line 45 minutes for a $12 beer!?!? Trash cans were full so cups all over the ground and food dumped everywhere. Was this all about greed? Well, they got their money. And lost a lot of return patrons for next year. read more

Worst festival ever. So poorly managed from the parking lot (expect an hour or more wait to get parked) to the lines to get wristband (45 minutes) and a second line (???) to get an ID wristband (hour long wait). By the time we finally got to the VIP section it turned out to be a total joke. Anyone can sneak right in so don't bother paying the $300. Just get a regular ticket and walk right into VIP like everyone else. Not enough couches or seating in Hang 5. Everything about Hang 5 was pathetic actually and all we heard were people complaining. They advertise special chefs and there were 2 food options: waffles (really?) and Italian, both of which had hour-plus lines, so we had to go out to the regular area for food. The drink line will take you about an hour so plan on missing most of the show. Also, they were out of chardonnay. We didn't want to but knew we had to leave half way into Aerosmith or else we'd be stuck out there til 1AM in another traffic jam. Way to go, Kaaboo. Utter and complete waste of time and money. read more

This is my first time and wow. The music and bands were great but the infrastructure was HORRIBLE. Poor planning and a major cluster fuck. I could barely get out of the venue and there were so many drunk people who constantly kept spilling their beer on myself because it too damn crowded. This wasn't even the worst part! Parking was $35 and I'm still trying to get out of the parking lot and it's been almost 2 HOURS!! Never coming back again until they get their shit together and get the place organized. read more