Cruel World Festival

Cruel World Festival is held at Brookside, next to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Launched in 2020 by Goldenvoice (an AEG Presents subsidiary) and first held in 2022, this one-day festival brings together more than thirty artists across several stages around new wave, post-punk, gothic rock and alternative music spanning the 1980s to today. It has established itself as a key gathering for dark wave and synth-pop fans, featuring genre icons and rare band reunions, with an audience whose gothic style is as much a part of the event as the music.