HARD to return in 2016 following Los Angeles' decision not to ban raves

In 2015, two young women were pronounced dead after being sent to the hospital from HARD Summer, held in the Fairplex in Pomona, a city about an hour outside of Los Angeles.

Following the news of their deaths, the city immediately went into lockdown on rave events and prompted city council members to suggest a blanket ban on all future electronic music shows. Though the ban was not passed, the city did implement a heavy set of new safety and health regulations that would be applied strictly to all major electronic music events.

Seven months after the incident, a final vote was conducted this past week regarding the proposed ban on electronic music events, and unanimously, the board vetoed the ban and instead decided in favor of introducing a case-by-case approval for major electronic events (10,000 attendees or above).

In addition to the approval process, Los Angeles will continue to enforce the strict set of safety rules that include "improving security and medical response, ensuring appropriate venue-capacity guidelines and staffing, providing educational and safety messaging, and providing adequate access to hydration".

Though the city's community may celebrate avoiding a city-wide ban of all electronic events, it seems as though Los Angeles is still strongly against the presence of raves and the culture that comes along with it.

Fairplex, the venue that has hosted HARD's previous HARD Summer and HARD Day of the Dead events, has no plans to invite the promoter back to its venue this year.

Prominent LA publication Los Angeles Times was eager to share the opinion of many of those in opposition of the return of electronic music events, including a quote from a resident of the Pomona area who suggested that the venue should oust similar events forever.

Though HARD will no longer be welcomed at Fairplex, representatives of the company explained that HARD still plans to announce a line up and venue for its 2016 edition of HARD Summer in April.

[Photo: Gabriel Olsen]

Valerie Lee is Mixmag's West Coast Editor. Follow her on Twitter