Phoenix Burn Festival Snuffed Out, TekNest Still a Go for September

Chinese music fans once again have reason to despair: the Burning Man-esque Phoenix Burn festival has been canceled. 

The bad news was announced today in a statement from Miao Wong of the promoter dART, which read: "As one of the event curators at Phoenix Burn, I put my heart and soul into making this an amazing festival. To all those who were planning to come, please accept my sincerest apologies ... Unfortunately, the powers at be have decided against holding China’s first ever Phoenix Burn."

The festival was slated to take place from August 21-27 in Inner Mongolia’s Ulan Buh Desert. Heishicheng Sports & Culture Management Co. and dART were handling the promotion. It was billed as a vast, week-long extravaganza of talented DJ's and, as the Beijinger reported in an earlier post, also promised to have "interactive art, skateboarding, cross-country car exploration, outdoor sports, handmade art, motorcycles, graffiti, fortune telling, tattoos, and much more." On top of that, the event was also to feature a Boiler Room set in collaboration with LeEco Global Live Stream, Phoenix Burn’s strategic media partner. 

The cancelation is the latest in a seemingly endless onslaught of gig-related bad news. Last week, for instance, marked the closure of Beijing punk stalwart Old What?, mere months after longtime favorite Mao Livehouse supposedly shut its doors (the venue continues to hobble on, one seemingly final after another). Meanwhile, other high profile foreign gigs from all genres – Bon Jovi to Boris – have suffered last-minute cancellations in Beijing as of late.

It's not all doom and gloom, however: in lieu of the Phoenix Burn cancelation, dART says that it is coordinating another festival in September called TekNest. In a written statement, the promoter said: "Headliners include techno heavyweights like dubfire and Art Department and also more avant garde acts like Jacques," which means that our dreams of a uncanceled festival may soon once again rise out of the ashes.

Phoenix Burn ticket refunds can be received from the ticket platform from which they purchased, by calling the event organizer Heishicheng at 5745 7779.

Image courtesy of dART