In June, a man named Matty Roberts created a Facebook event scheduled for Sept. 20 titled “Storm Area 51.” As of Aug. 16, the event has over two million RSVPs, and since storming Area 51 probably isn’t the best idea, Rogers has instead decided to set up a music festival, which he’s dubbing “Alienstock.”
Alienstock will be held in Rachel, Nevada, which is the closest habitation to the Nellis Air Force Range and Area 51. The festival’s website shares that the event will be a “party in the desert” featuring music, art installations, camping and more.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“They can’t stop us from gathering and celebrating aliens! This event is taking place whether we set up or not — it’s basically its own entity now,” the site reads. “We’re aiming to establish something unique here, a meeting place for all the believers. Come out to the desert to dive into a world full of live music, arts, and camping under the stars.”
Rachel has a population of less than 100 people, and the idea of a massive music festival in the area has residents concerned about a large group of people arriving in a town with one business, a hotel, and almost no cell service. That hotel, excellently named the Little A’Le’Inn, is helping to plan Alienstock.
“The locals are not on board, nobody asked us, and we don’t appreciate anyone threatening to take over our town,” Joerg Arnu told TIME. “I’ll do anything in my power to prevent this.”
“We have no fire department out here,” pointed out Bob Clabaugh. “If a fire started, there’s no way of putting it out,” he says. “There’s just a lot of reasons not to have this many people here without a serious planned system set up for it.”
Alienstock is set for Sept. 20-22, with the 19th “serving as the arrival date for early birds.” Tickets are not required to attend the festival and the website is accepting donations.
“We encourage attendees to bring all of their essential needs — and we ask that everyone remember to fill up those gas tanks!” the site shares. “We’ll have the critical infrastructure set in place, we can’t wait to share this experience!”
After Rogers’ initial post, the U.S. military released a statement discouraging people from actually storming Area 51, which is a highly secured government compound believed to hold extraterrestrials.
Residents of Rachel are planning to meet with the Lincoln County board of commissioners next week to brainstorm ideas to prevent the festival, some of which include shutting down State Route 375 and requiring a bond of up to $5 million holding people responsible for mess left behind after the festival.
One of the festival’s organizers, 20-year-old Brock Daily, said that the lineup will be mostly EDM artists, and Roberts said the festival welcomes artists of all genres.
“It’s exciting and it’s cool for everyone involved,” Roberts said, adding that he’s working on hiring security and lining up food vendors for the festival. He’s also aiming to provide free drinking water and is working with the Alien Research Center tourist site in Hiko, Nevada to host a backup event should too many people arrive in Rachel. Organizers are currently expecting around 5,000 to 25,000 attendees.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock / Zachary Byer
