Further Future festival scrambles for new location
For those lucky enough to be invited, the inaugural Further Future festival promises a “carefully curated” slate of musicians, business and cultural leaders, chefs, mixologists and masseuses on “an incredible piece of land within a 45 minute drive of Las Vegas airport.”
The slick website for the three-day event, May 1-3, describes it as “a shared experience that’s beyond our future.” Think Burning Man, only smaller and more exclusive.
There’s just one problem: With less than two weeks until Further Future is set to begin, organizers are scrambling to secure a new location for the festival after apparently giving up on their preferred site.
Friday afternoon, representatives for Further Future moved to withdraw their request for a county permit to host the event for up to 5,000 people at an old mining site near Lake Mead, 35 miles east of Las Vegas.
The Clark County Commission was set to review the group’s application for a special use permit this Wednesday. But even if commissioners signed off on the plans, organizers faced the prospect of throwing a party with no way to get there.
Though the festival’s website carefully avoids identifying a specific location for the event, all the permits sought so far concerned the Anniversary Mine, a 215-acre tract sandwiched between Lake Mead National Recreation Area and the Bureau of Land Management’s Muddy Mountains Wilderness Area.
Earlier this month, both the BLM and the National Park Service denied the festival a commercial use permit for the roads leading across public land to the privately owned mine.
Bureau officials said they rejected the permit application because they didn’t have enough time to review it. The Park Service gave a different reason: a continuing dispute with the mine’s owner over control of the dirt track leading to and through his property.
Robert Ford made headlines in February when he closed his portion of Anniversary Mine Road, cutting off public access to a popular hiking trail through a nearby slot canyon.
Ford said he was forced to close the road because it was dangerous and because his insurance carrier was threatening to drop him if he continued to let people cross his land to get to Anniversary Narrows. He has offered to pave the entire road — including where it crosses federal land — at his own expense, but the BLM and Park Service said no.
Now, Ford said, federal officials are trying to spoil the party he hoped to cash in on.
“If they block this, they’re taking away my ability to use my property,” he said. “The BLM should pay the bill.”
On April 10, Ford sued the federal government for not allowing him to fix the road, effectively denying him use of his mine.
He previously tried to improve the road by having it resurfaced with asphalt chips, but the work drew a warning letter from the BLM.
Christie Vanover, spokeswoman for the Park Service at Lake Mead, confirmed last week that there is “an open investigation regarding considerable unauthorized damage and changes made to the backcountry road.”
That’s why Further Future was denied permission to use that route through the park to get to Ford’s property, she said.
There is no sign of any trouble on the festival’s website. Amid pictures and videos of glammed-up models parading through the desert at the Anniversary Mine site, festivalgoers can read about the amenities and purchase some of the packaged experiences still available.
The cheapest tier of tickets have already sold out at $200 each, as have a few “boutique camping options” such as the private, air-conditioned tents and the large group suite that sleeps up to 10 people.
You can still reserve meals and drinks and book “wellness experiences” at the pop-up spa. Some on-site parking will be offered, but most attendees are expected to come and go via shuttle buses.
The nonstop, three-day party is only open to invited guests and successful applicants age 21 and older who “share our sense of mindfulness and optimism, and will bring great energy, love and respect to our gathering,” the website says. Those who attend are encouraged to dress in costume as their Further Future selves.
The festival is the brainchild of a group called Robot Heart, an art and music collective known for the parties it throws during the annual Burning Man counterculture gathering in Northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.
The slate of entertainment includes several dozen musical acts performing throughout the weekend on multiple stages, including some well-known names on the electronic, ambient and dance music scenes. For its “Vision Series” on May 2, the festival has lined up a host of art, science and business luminaries, including Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.
All that’s left to determine is where everyone will meet for this “incredible, memorable and curated experience.”
Attempts to contact Further Future organizers, who have gone to some lengths not to identify themselves by name, were unsuccessful. Las Vegas attorney Alicia Ashcraft, who was representing the group in its quest for county and federal permits, did not respond to several requests for comment.
Ford said the Further Future folks have been doing prep work on his land for the past two months, but they did have a backup plan if the site couldn’t be used for some reason. He didn’t offer any specifics, just that the alternate location is on an “Indian reservation” outside Las Vegas, where federal permits and county liquor licenses are not an issue.
Whatever the festival’s organizers plan to do, they will need to do it quickly. With less than two weeks to go, Further Future is at risk of turning into the coolest party no one ever went to.
Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Find him on Twitter: @RefriedBrean
