Las Vegas alternative fans are celebrating the good news as a beloved music festival announces its return to the city. Extreme Thing, a music and extreme sports festival, announced a 25th anniversary event on March 20, 2027. The festival returns to Desert Breeze Park, where it made its home for years.
“Extreme Thing has always been more than a festival, it’s a piece of Las Vegas history,” said Brian Saliba, creator of the festival, in a statement. “Bringing it back for the 25th anniversary means reuniting the generations who grew up with Extreme Thing, while introducing an entirely new generation to the music, energy, and culture that made it a Las Vegas icon.”
The Extreme Thing 25th anniversary festival will bring back all the beloved elements of the old festival. Multiple stages, the best alternative, punk, and metal bands, and extreme sports demonstrations all in one place. According to a report from FOX5 in Las Vegas, there will also be a food truck village, interactive experiences, and something called Freakshow Wrestling.
Extreme Thing Festival Returns After Abrupt Hiatus to Celebrate 25 Years
For years, Extreme Thing was organized by the Clark County Parks & Recreation department. After a successful 2014 event, the festival took a year-long break to regroup following county-wide budget cuts. But in 2016, Extreme Thing returned with great fanfare, albeit with smaller crowd expectations to manage its growth.
At the festival’s peak, it drew roughly 25,000 fans to the Desert Breeze Park event center. It hosted bands like Taking Back Sunday, The Used, Bring Me The Horizon, Killswitch Engage, and Of Mice & Men, among others. But after 2016, Clark County decided to exit the event business. Extreme Thing returned with a bang, but ended without so much as a whimper.
There was no formal farewell to Extreme Thing after 15 years at the Desert Breeze Event Center. A Las Vegas staple simply disappeared.
“We never got a proper send-off; it was just kind of canceled abruptly,” Saliba told The Las Vegas Review-Journal. “So this is the 25th year, something special.”
Nostalgic Fans Rejoice: Early Festival Tickets On Sale This Week
Brian Saliba ran the festival since 2001, but it started as a small community event, then called The Whitney Teen Extreme Thing and Bike Rodeo. In 2001, asbestos forced it out of the Whitney Community Center and over to the Desert Breeze skate park. The venue change ushered in a shorter name, as well as a bigger showcase for extreme sports. Extreme Thing became the most anticipated alternative festival in Las Vegas each year.
One unique aspect of the original Extreme Thing was the XPOZ stage, which is returning for the 25th anniversary as the Rockstars of Tomorrow stage. Local Vegas bands compete against each other in a battle-of-the-bands-style bracket. Then, the top eight remaining bands get to perform on stage for the Extreme Thing crowds. It’s another love letter to the local Las Vegas alternative scene.
So far, Saliba has stated that there will be two stages, with a possible third. There’s currently no lineup, as the first band will be announced on September 15, 2026. The full lineup will drop in the following weeks. Right now, fans can enter their email on the Extreme Thing website to get the first updates. At the same website, early tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. PT on September 5, starting at $50.
Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/WireImage
The post Beloved Las Vegas Alt-Metal Festival Is Returning for 25th Anniversary After Abrupt Decade-Long Hiatus appeared first on VICE.
