UC Riverside Cancels Annual Music Festival, Citing El Nino Concerns

RIVERSIDE (CBSLA.com) — UC Riverside has decided to cancel its annual Heat music festival in March, claiming the threat of the largest El Nino event on record will make it too difficult to plan and produce the show.

The Nov. 24 decision was an attempt to avoid losing money by planning an outdoor festival that could be canceled later due to highly anticipated El Nino storms.

"Significant amounts of rain make any outdoor event, especially an event of this magnitude, difficult if not impossible to produce," Todd Wingate, assistant dean of students at UCR, told campus newspaper the Highlander.

In March, 2014, the Heat music festival was also canceled due to weather concerns. But organizers had already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay artists and produce the event, the Highlander reported.

The festival was staged earlier this year and drew acts such as Panic! At The Disco and Chance The Rapper.

Administrators on Nov. 24 also voted to allocate additional money for another festival, Spring Splash, but many students still want Heat to return.

"Everyone's bummed out," said Oscar Miranda, a junior who was scheduled to DJ at Heat. "It's probably the best concert on campus."

Miranda said some students upset over the decision have started a campaign online to have Heat rescheduled for later in the year.