Neon Skies Review

Overall Neon Skies was a decent festival but didn’t live up to the hype it promised due to poor Edmonton weather and a terrible PR response.

What is Neon Skies?

Neon Skies was one of Edmonton’s newest hyper pop music festivals. It was marketed as an all-ages event spanning from July 17th - 18th.

Was Neon Skies Worth It?

If you wanted to just see everyone leading up to and including Slayyyter. Then yes.

If you came purely because you wanted to see Kesha then no.

Unfortunately, Edmonton doesn’t get a lot of concerts in the same way that Toronto or US cities do so this likely will be the one and only time Kesha will make her way to Alberta.

So thats pretty tough.

The Good

Slayyyter killed it. I’m excited for people in Toronto that get to see her in October because man does she know how to put on a show.

I think she will become wayyyy bigger as time goes on and I’m happy I got to see her.

The Bad

The unpredictable Edmonton weather struck again leading to a Tornado warning and the event shutting down suddenly and aggressively.

There was basically no warning and was not handled well.

I saw some fans reporting crowd crush anxiety due to the rapid exodus of thousands of people into a single exit point.

The Ugly

I don’t think they will be providing partial refunds or even rescheduling the event.

The organizers are being called out on Reddit and Instagram for handling this event very poorly.

I agree that it was the right decision to shut down the event but it could’ve been handled wayyyyyy better.

There will always be growing pains in these events but cancelling a “Rain or Shine” event without proper compensation is pretty damaging for the brand.

Only time will tell if they can recover. But my guess is they will put their head in the sand and not say anything. The classic PR strategy.

Will Neon Skies Come Back?

I don’t think so, unless they manage to have an absolutely banger lineup.

I’ve noticed that many people are willing to give festiavls the benefit of the doubt if they had a bad experince if the next one promises, and lives up, to being better.

As long as they learn from their mistakes they have the potential to be a yearly tradition like Chasing Summer in Calgary.

Will it become like an Osheaga in Montreal or a Veld in Toronto, unlikely, but it can always become a mid range decent festival for someone out in West Canada.

They do have the backing of FanDuel so money is not a problem. Their problem is securing good artists and rebuilding consumer trust.

The Venue Layout

The venue was solid, in Fan Park which is right next to Rogers Place where the Edmonton Oilers play.

It was a decent venue but in my opinion it was missing two things that make a festival great:

1. Nature: There was not a piece of grass or tree in sight which makes it feel like a depressing concrete jungle.
2. Areas to sit and talk: It had some bleachers and picnic tables but with the volume of people, these were immediately taken.

I can concede a good festival doesn’t need nature but they should’ve played more into the hyperpop theme.

They should’ve had a massive tent where they could control the lighting, add more strobe lights and ‘crank’ed up the visuals.

After all this is the same audience that loves Charlie XcX for that reason.

The Lineup

At a glance the lineup was pretty strong, especially the second day. Heidi Montag, Slayyyter and Kesha, all in one night on one stage. Awesome.

One thing that immediately had red flags in my mind was the fact they got the name of one of their artists wrong.

While I haven’t heard of Kayla Rae, NOT KYLA RAE, lets put some respect on her name.

Tickets & Prices what you get

There were two ticket options based on the number of days you went:

• GA Single Day: Started at around $130 CAD
• GA 2 Day: Started at around $160 CAD
• VIP Single Day: Started at around $200 CAD
• VIP 2 Day: Started at around $295 CAD

Like all festivals they incentivize you to get a multiple day ticket vs single day ticket and in almost every situation its always worth the upgrade.

Realistically, you should only get a single day if you have work constraints or just really want to see one person.

VIP Wasn’t Worth It

While I didn’t purchase VIP for this event based on what you got, its hard to wonder why you would.

The main benefits were

• Private Bathrooms
• Private Area to watch
• Private Bars
• Private Entry

3/4 of these were a non issue.

• Bathrooms took 5-10 min max
• Ordering a drink took 3-5 min max
• There was no lineup to get in…

You were basically paying for a private area with a worse view due to the way the way the stage was laid out in relation to the VIP area.

In fact I saw many people with VIP wrist bands in the GA area…

Would I Go To Neon Skies Next Year?

Honestly depends on the lineup. The layout and location weren’t too bad but if they want me to pay VIP money they need to provide a VIP experience.

I’m gonna keep Neon Skies on my radar but am not getting my hopes up.