​HARD Enacts Media Blackout for Day of the Dead

UPDATE [October 28th]: A representative from HARD has issued the following statement: "Due to interest and demand from media to cover the artists and performers at HARD, the organizers have revised their policy to now offer credentials to qualifying media."

LA-based festival powerhouse HARD's marquee event, Day of the Dead, is scheduled for Halloween weekend, but don't expect much coverage from the media. There is an 100% press blackout on the festival.

HARD sources did not offer any explanation for the decision, but did state that the hardline policy is across-the-board.

Speculation suggests that the blackout may be part of a damage control campaign after Los Angeles County's Board of Supervisors pressured HARD parent corporation Live Nation into capping capacity at 40,000 and limiting attendance to 21+ after two girls, aged 18 and 19 respectively, died after HARD Summer in August.

This policy drastically reduces HARD's attendee demographic and was enacted only two months prior to the event's date, leaving the festival brand scrambling to accommodate.

These struggles are just the latest step in the County of Los Angeles' decades-long war on the dance scene. On the bright side, if there's some plucky blogger with a GA pass and a cell phone camera, this might be a shot to get their work noticed.

Jemayel Khawaja is Managing Editor of THUMP and was going to Minimal Effort anyway - @JemayelK