Phoenix could see ‘tens of millions’ in profits from Lost Lake Festival

PHOENIX — In just a few short days, Phoenix will host one of the biggest music festivals in the city’s history.

The Lost Lake Festival is expected to bring thousands of music lovers to the Valley to see the likes of The Killers, Chance the Rapper and Run the Jewels, indulge in delicious eats and unique games starting on Friday.

The event, which will be held in Steele Indian School Park, is the first of its kind in Phoenix.

Rick Farman, one of the co-founders of Superfly, the company that hosted the event, said they chose Phoenix to host the festival because of its unique culture.

“Right now, Phoenix is going through a pretty amazing demographic and cultural Renaissance. Just the basic elements of music, food, art are really flourishing here in an incredible way,” Farman said.

“We looked out at different places to bring what we do and we felt those elements were really strong here,” he added.

Farman said the emergence of young people moving to Phoenix due to Arizona State University’s downtown campus, an up-and-coming arts scene and other cultural elements made the city a more appealing choice.

“This is a market and city and community that really would embrace bringing together all these artistic elements and creating a community element out of that,” he said.

And Phoenix stands poised to benefit from this festival — in more ways than one.

“We expect this weekend will be in the tens of millions [in economic impact],” Farman said.

In comparison, Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco, which the company has been running for a decade, makes $60 to $70 million each event.

Farman said, if everything goes well, the company hopes to make Lost Lake Festival an annual event.

“Festivals are an opportunity for people to come together and celebrate,” he said. “We hope this becomes a catalyst for people in the Valley to celebrate everything that’s happening here.”

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