Mesa Music Festival has postponed its 2025 edition. What we know

A performance at the Mesa Music Festival in 2015. Melina Dellamarggio

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Arizona’s largest free music festival just hit its fans with bad news. Promoters of the Mesa Music Festival, the three-day event featuring hundreds of emerging artists, announced on Thursday that its 2025 edition is postponed.

A brief statement announcing the news was posted on the festival’s website and Facebook account.

“The 2025 Mesa Music Festival (usually in April) will be postponed this year. Submissions are currently closed and will be opened when new dates are announced,” the statement read.

No further information was provided, including the reasons behind the festival's postponement. It's the second time MMF, which is held at various venues in downtown Mesa, has been scrapped since its debut in 2015. The event previously went on a three-year hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Jason DeVore of Authority Zero performs during the band's set at Mesa Music Festival in 2015.

Melina Dellamarggio

An ‘emerging artist’ festival

When the Mesa Music Festival launched in November 2015, it was nothing if not ambitious. Produced by New Jersey-based company Motor Media, it was touted as “Arizona's largest emerging artist festival.”

Like the Motor Media-produced Jersey Shore Festival, the Mesa Music Festival is a free event featuring over 200 up-and-coming bands and musicians across various genres — ranging from rock, pop, and punk to hip-hop and R&B — each year, performing at various businesses and venues in downtown Mesa.

MMF has showcased numerous up-and-coming artists and acts getting their first taste of the festival experience, as well as established local groups like Authority Zero. Nationally known bands and musicians have headlined each year, including metal band Hoobastank in 2019 and alt-rockers Everclear in 2023.

Each year, Mesa Music Festival has also featured symposiums and workshops focused on the business side of the music industry and helping artists develop their careers. Speakers have included record executive and former MTV personality Matt Pinfield and concert promoter Stephen Chilton, owner of The Rebel Lounge and Psyko Steve Presents.

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Now-defunct Phoenix punk band Doll Skin onstage at Mesa Music Festival in 2015.

Melina Dellamarggio

‘We really love playing this event’

Local musicians and Mesa Music Festival fans were disappointed by the news that promoters had postponed the 2025 edition of the event.

That includes Tempe rock/punk band Fat Gray Cat, who performed at MMF in 2023 and commented on the Facebook post announcing the festival's postponement.

“We really love playing this event (and) hopefully get to play again,” the band commented.