Earlier this week, Voltage Live Media got the chance to catch up with Mike Beltran, one of the organizers of San Diego's Mission Bayfest. We talked about all things music, festivals, and even hopefully Ferris wheels at future festivals!

What inspired you to create Mission Bayfest, and what made you bring it to San Diego? Did you feel there was something missing? 

“I grew up in Mission Bay, and in the 90s (I’m old), there used to be music festivals in Mission Bay, and I would get to them as a teenager, and suddenly in the 2000s it stopped, and basically 20 years later I was like we gotta get this going again; 

I started trying to get the permit to do it. It took me 5 years to get permission from Parks and Rec of San Diego, and it got greenlit, and we threw our first one, and this is year 5, and we’ve built since then. We're now a 3-day, 5000 cap per day, and it came from me as a young kid hanging out, going to shows. 

I was like, you know what, I think the community of Mission Bay, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, San Diego, we need to do this again; it's absolutely gorgeous here” 

Is there anything specific from the first festival that really stood out that you still remember, or is there something that made you try something different the following year? 

“Yeah, it was loose money [Laughter]. 

People are always like You must be making so much money; you're killing it and it's like nah. Being a festival, it's so difficult because it costs a lot of money. But that was my first-year lesson: damn, I did all that work, and I made nothing. 

Jokes aside, there are always things to improve, particularly with a first-time event. We actually had a prior event called San Diego Bayfest. We have 2 bays: San Diego Bay and Mission Bay. I was doing San Diego Bayfest. We had our first one in 2019, and it was actually years before that. I was trying to do Mission Bayfest, but I was able to get land in San Diego Bay first, so that's why we had it first. So when it came to Mission Bay, I had a couple of years of experience doing festivals, and one of the big lessons to be learned in a new area is how to function in every park. You do it at every venue. 

The first time you do it, there's always a laundry list of things to change, and for us it was year 1 logistics, bar layout, you never know how the crowds are gonna flow until they're flowing, there's logistics of general admission because there are thousands of people, and you never know until they're moving, and so adjusting the layout is one of the main things we’ve fixed.”

Is there anything in particular you look for when creating a lineup for the festival? What's the thought process behind it?

“We’re centered in what I call Beach Culture, it's not necessarily just surfers, not necessarily just skaters, but it's people who live around the beach and bay community- 

And that's kind of the lifestyle we live down here, and the music and the artists that we choose are based on what you’d hear in a parking lot at a surf parking lot. You hear a ton of American reggae, acoustic music, you hear some punk rock, hear some rock. All different types of genres, but mainly what you’d vibe to on the beach. 

Think about it, there's a cocktail in your hand with an umbrella, or you are surfing on a wave, or you're doing yoga on a bluff, it all relates to beach and bay culture.”

Did growing up in Mission Bay influence certain acts or things you do around the festival? 

“For sure. 

Because I, you know, I'm second-generation, actually third-generation San Diegan. My dad was born here. My nana came from Tijuana. And so we've been here for the Beltrans. I'm a Beltran. Beats isn't my last name.[Laughs] 

But we've been here for so long, and we've lived around Mission Bay, and there is a culture. 

The smell of bonfire, the smell of the salt ocean, fricking tacos. You know, like that's, that's, those are the smells. The sites are palm trees, sunsets, grass, sand, and water. And that's, you know, that's what we see growing. I'm 47 years old. This is what I see in my whole life. So, being from here and understanding the elements that make San Diego, particularly Mission Bay in Mission Bay is reflected at our venue. And it's a gorgeous park called Mariners Point Park here in Mission Bay. -It's beautiful. You could have your toes in the sand, in the grass, or in the water and be listening to bands like Revolution. You know, we got Revolution, Chloe Kai, and The Offspring. 

Previous years, you could hear Cypress Hill and Wiz Khalifa. With your toes in the water, or toes in the sand, or toes in the grass. I really found a gem in this park. But one of our selling points is that you're not on asphalt. You're not in some parking lot baking your ass off. Don't get me wrong. It can get hot here. But go take a dip. It's like... It's part of the venue. And one thing that's really cool is that, you know, people pull up in their boats, people pull up on their stand-up paddle boards, and they're listening.

They're catching the same vibes. -But those are the elements that make San Diego, particularly Mission Bay, Mission Bay. And those are the elements of Mission Bay Fest.”

Are there any performances that you're excited to see?

“I love the undercard. I love the openers. Mainly because of the promise of... how those bands strive hard. It's like, Oh, look, I'm not a big sports guy, but you know, you watch some college football or college basketball, you see those kids playing their heart out, you know, sometimes more so than the millionaires, you know, NFL or NBA or whatnot. 

And that's the kind of heart that I see on the undercard. There's, you know, we've got these guys, this two-man band, The Ries Brothers, and they're just some rockers where the drummer plays keyboards and sings and then his brother, the guitarist, just rips the guitar the whole time. And they're absolutely phenomenal. Got a guy like Joe Samba out of Florida whose personality is bigger than life, and his voice matches it. 

These are just such promising young acts. And all the headliners started somewhere. Revolution used to play small bars in Pacific Beach here in San Diego. You know, The Offspring out of OC. Kaloi Kai used to play on the island of Oahu at home. And I think he used to do weddings, you know? Yeah. But everyone comes from somewhere. So that's the type of... I love seeing the honor cards. 

But on top, one thing I've got to talk about is that I'm very excited to see The Offspring because The Offspring was actually my very first concert in 1995. I was 16 years old. And my mom let me go to the show, and it was The Offspring. And here I am, 31 years later, booking The Offspring at this show. So I try not to be a fanboy or a fanman, if you will, because I'm old. But, you know, when I meet Dexter Holland – you know, 16-year-old Mikey is going to be like, Oh my God, my hair will be down and everything. But that's like, for me, that's a, that's a full circle moment.

Do you have any core memories from going to festivals?

“I mean, the core memories are, you know, losing your phone, losing a shoe, you know, losing your wallet—something, you know, something wrong is always the core memory, something going wrong, because, uh, going to a festival, I mean, it's survival, man, like you gotta adapt and overcome. But a core memory I have of a music festival that happened here in San Diego, it was in 2018. And I was standing on stage for a band called Stick Figure. And I was looking out at the crowd, and I was like, I could do this. Like I could create this environment. And that's how Bayfest was created.”

For someone attending for the first time, what would you recommend they explore beyond the main performances?

“Come early. I say come early because there's so much to see at Mission Bay. We have 3 stages. To understand the layout and explore is such a great thing. 

We’re gonna have stuff to do; there are walls to draw on, we’ve got selfie stations, all sorts of stuff. So yeah, I tell people to get there early; there's so much to explore. 

Is there an ambition you want to bring to life for this festival that you haven't gotten the chance to do yet? 

“ I want a Ferris wheel; that's what I want. 

I want a drone show, I want fireworks, I wanna make all sorts of things. 

Here’s my philosophy: festivals sell VIP tickets for top dollar, platinum experiences, and backstage passes, and all this stuff. The real culture’s in the GA, and I always wanna provide the GA experiences. The more I could do in the GA, the better, and this year, with the expansion to the sand, it gives people room. 'Cause there's nothing worse than getting a GA ticket to an event and you're just stuck.

That's one thing about Bayfest: the GA experience is wonderful. So it's one of the visions I have, and I wanna find ways to make it a blast.” 

What do you hope fans leave feeling?

“Sore feet. [Laughter] 

Just good memories and good stories. I really like how there are a lot of San Diegans that come to the festival, and it's like a reunion. And it's leaving with those memories like, Wow, I don't get to see my people very often, -and it's like a big San Diego high school reunion spot; that's the part I love.

But also when people are leaving, I want them to come back, I want them to say I had a great time, I got a bang for my buck, and I'm ready to come back the next season.” 

Is there anything you want to walk away with this season? 

“You know, the PC response to this is to say that I do it for the culture and the community, and honestly, it's fucking true. I absolutely love this community. I adore San Diego, and it's just such a big part of this whole thing.”