Viva PHX Music Festival in downtown Phoenix to take 2018 off

One of the Valley’s more prominent music festivals will be taking a break in 2018.

The Viva PHX Music Festival has taken over downtown Phoenix the past several years, providing a premier musical event with, at times, 100 bands gracing more than 20 venues in the downtown area.

The festival has become a major draw for both fans and artists, with more prominent names in the music industry electing to play at the event.

Girl Talk, The Maine and Wyclef Jean among many others performed at the event last March.

Stateside Presents, the main contributing partner for the event and its founder, Charlie Levy, said the hiatus for the event is due to their inability to find the same talent level to perform as in year’s past.

“We were having a tough time getting the level of artists that we strive to get,” he told the Arizona Republic. “And that’s one of the things I’m super-proud of is that of those hundred bands on 20 stages, you can walk anywhere to see any band at any time and it’s super-top-quality music.”

Levy added that there is a possibility of bringing back the event in 2019 if they were able to schedule the level of talent they see fit for the event, which has a partnership with Live Nation and Phoenix New Times.

Luckily for Valley concert-goers, music festivals have become immensely popular in and around the Phoenix area. Between the months of March and April alone, the McDowell Mountain Music Festival and the Maricopa Music Festival, among others, will be live for festival-goers to enjoy numerous musical acts.

Still, there remains hope that the hiatus of the Viva Phoenix Music Festival only lasts for one year.

Follow @KTAR923