[Update: Apparently this weekend's Wet Electric will be booze free. See more info after the jump]
Today we got word that this weekend's Wet Electric party in Huntington Beach will go on as scheduled, despite an attempt by the Huntington Beach City Council to unplug the event with an 11th-hour lawsuit against the promoter, Premiere Media Group. What can we say, the outcome isn't much of a shocker (ok, pun time over).
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After a Wednesday hearing in Santa Ana, Judge Jamoa Moberly says the city failed to prove it might suffer irreparable harm from the Wet Electric music festival scheduled for Saturday at Huntington State Beach. The party, set for Sep. 14 from 12p.m.-9 p.m., is expected to draw about 10,000 people for a full day of DJs, booze and other things that involve getting crunk in an enclosed area of Huntington Beach State Park. Tickets are going for about $100 (not exactly the same free-for-all that the U.S. Open of Surfing was). Among the performers listed are Paul Oakenfold, Erick Morillo, Nadia Ali and nearly two dozen other DJs.
In a report from City News Service, Judge Moberly also said the city could have acted sooner in its effort to halt the event, noting that Huntington Beach officials must have known about the event as early as August. The Huntington Beach City Council's lawsuit contended that the promoters were in breach of city zoning codes, which also turned out to be incorrect because the beach is considered state property.
The news today seems like a walk-through victory for PMG, which partnered with the state officials to plan the event on the beach, an area not subject to city control according to officer Kevin Pearsall, a peace officer with the California State Parks. “We will be using state resources, not city resources,” he told the L.A. Times when the lawsuit was first filed late last week.
Look out for our review of the festival next week. Hopefully the most chaos we have to deal with is fighting the crowds to get a drink at the bar.
[Update: So it looks like we won't have to worry about chaos at the bar after all, as the state Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control denied a liquor license to the promoters due to lack of an adequate safety plan. A dry Wet Electric? We're not sure if that will help things or just make the brosefs more upset that they can't get their drink on. Again, we remind you, that OC Weekly news racks had nothing to do with this decision and do not deserve the brunt of your hatred. That's what the OC Register racks are for.]
See also: City Council Suing to Stop Wet Electric Beach Party. Too Little Too Late?
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