All good things must come to an end.
Vans Warped Tour has announced its final cross-country tour in 2018, bringing an end to the mostly pop-punk music festival.
Founder of the tour, Kevin Lyman, released an official statement on the Vans Warped Tour website on Wednesday morning, stating, “I have been a very lucky person to have traveled across the country and sometimes around the world as one of the founders and producers of the Vans Warped Tour.”
He continued on to say, “Today, with mixed feelings, I am here to announce that next year will be the final, full cross-country run of the Vans Warped Tour.”
The music festival has been touring the country since 1995 and started with bands like Quicksand, Sublime, L7, No Use for a Name and No Doubt. The tour was the place to witness “the rise of pop punk,” according to Lyman, thanks to bands like Sum 41, Simple Plan, New Found Glory and Good Charlotte.
“Though the tour and the world have changed since ’95, the same feeling of having the ‘best summer ever’ will live on through the bands, the production teams and the fans that come through at every stop,” said Lyman.
Over the past 23 summers, the music festival has toured with more than 1,700 bands and was even dubbed one of the most diverse shows, where fans could find Eminem on the same stage as Sevendust. But the festival was more than just music; the Vans Warped Tour was also known for its community outreach and even partnered with 90 nonprofit organizations.
Local
Vans Warped Tour will grace stages across the country for the last time starting in June 2018. Bay Area fans can catch the final tour on June 23 in Mountain View.
For fans feeling nostalgic, Lyman also said he is planning a 25th-anniversary celebration of the Warped Tour in 2019, but in an interview with Billboard, he also expressed his excitement at taking a break from the tour.
“The enduring spirit of the Vans Warped Tour remains as bright as ever, continuing to inspire creativity and ambition in new and exciting ways as we prepare for a 25th-anniversary celebration in 2019.
