Nearly 500 people were arrested this weekend at two electronic music festivals in Pomona and San Bernardino, authorities said.
On Sunday, the second and final day of the Halloween-themed HARD Day of the Dead festival at the Pomona Fairplex, 162 people were arrested, according to figures released early Monday morning by the Pomona Police Department. Another 148 people were arrested on Saturday.
Authorities in San Bernardino arrested about 180 people at Escape: Psycho Circus, a two-day festival that began Friday at the National Orange Show Events Center.
At the Pomona rave, which featured headliners like Skrillex, Deadmau5 and Hot Chip, most were arrested for public intoxication, possession of illegal drugs or being under the influence of a controlled substance, police said in a statement. About 100 people were arrested for having fake identification, authorities said.
The HARD Day of the Dead rave, which is hosted by Live Nation Entertainment, is under heightened scrutiny after two young women died of apparent drug overdose after attending the Aug. 1 HARD Summer rave, also at the Pomona Fairplex. Several emergency room physicians have said that raves threaten public health, overwhelming hospitals and emergency rooms with young rave-goers, many suffering from seizures, comas or deaths from illicit drugs.
After this summer's deaths, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously convened a task force to examine rave safety. The fairgrounds are managed by a nonprofit and sit on county-owned land.
The Beverly Hills-based Live Nation agreed to cancel a Sept. 10 electronic music event and added new measures for this weekend’s festival, including capping attendance to 40,000 a day instead of 65,000 per day and raising the minimum age to 21. The two women who died this summer were under 21.