Growing up in the Central Valley, I always loved family weekend trips to San Luis Obispo. It was the destination for many families in the area. Some of the shop owners in SLO moved from the valley to enjoy the temperate costal climate. I have my favorite stops like Montaña de Oro and a local plant shop called Growing Grounds Downtown. I’d enjoy the wineries with my friends and checking out thrift stores around the area. Yet, after all these years, I didn’t explore the music scene there.

Like the Central Valley, in SLO, if you don’t really know anyone in a band or didn’t listen to groups based in the area, it was hard to get into the local scene. Shabang changed this.

Shabang is an all encompassing festival created by two friends back in 2014. It was an informal, and illegal, event that took place on Cuesta Ridge. As sophomores in college at the time, Carson Stone and Greg Golf wanted to create an event where they could listen to music outdoors. Quoted in Mustang News back in 2018, Myles Franklin, the festival’s Public Outreach and Media Coordinator said of its beginnings:

This awesome festival was happening on top of Cuesta Ridge. You can’t just have a concert on top of a mountain and expect to get away with it.
Mercury News, 2018

Shabang has evolved into the indie fusion festival we know and love. This year it will be hosted at the sprawling Dairy Creek Golf Course. May 3-4 is packed with amazing performers across four stages, yoga, workshops, art installations, and pop-ups from wineries, breweries, and local food vendors. Think of it as Outside Lands for the Central Coast. There will also be new camping packages if you want to go all out that weekend.

The line-up itself has something for almost everyone. Crowd-favorite Thundercat and indie rock band Peach Pit will be headlining. The melodic Kate Bollinger, everyone’s favorite chaotic dj, DJ Mandy, folk-rock icons Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners, and alt-pop group Joy Again are just some of the many talents to expect.