Friday, August 7, 2026

Head in the Clouds Trades Its Weekend at Brookside for a Single Saturday

KATSEYE tops an 11-act bill on August 8, in a fiscal year when the Rose Bowl expects eight music festival dates in the Arroyo

Head in the Clouds took two days off the Brookside golf course last year and drew more than 75,000 people, according to published reports. This Saturday it takes one.

Head in the Clouds: LA 2026, the music and arts festival produced by 88rising and Goldenvoice, returns to Brookside at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, August 8, in a one-day format, with KATSEYE headlining a bill of Asian and Asian-diaspora artists. For Pasadena, the arithmetic of that day is set by ordinance. Under Chapter 3.32 of the Municipal Code, the Arroyo Seco Public Lands Ordinance, each festival day counts as one “displacement event” — any gathering of 20,000 or more, large enough that parking for it pushes ordinary recreation out of the Central Arroyo.

The city permits 25 such events in a fiscal year without additional City Council findings. The Rose Bowl Operating Company’s draft Fiscal Year 2027 budget, presented to the Pasadena Finance Committee in May, anticipates exactly that many: 17 stadium events and eight music festival dates. The fiscal year runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. Steve Haderlein, the operating company’s president, told city officials during the May budget hearings that he considered the plan “optimistic” but achievable. The Goldenvoice festival contract is in its fifth year of seven, according to the budget presentation.

The ordinance itself states that the city seeks a balance between use of the Rose Bowl and the impact of that use on surrounding residential areas.

KATSEYE, the group formed under the HYBE x Geffen Records joint venture, is making its first Head in the Clouds appearance, according to a press release from the organizers. The group has performed as five members — Daniela Avanzini, Lara Raj, Megan Skiendiel, Sophia Laforteza and Yoonchae Jeong — since February, when founding member Manon Bannerman began a temporary hiatus. In April, HYBE told The Korea Herald that “Manon remains on hiatus.” The rest of the bill is XG, Dabin.kr, Rich Brian, UMI, LNGSHOT, KiiiKiii, Gia Fu, Tiffany Day, Warren Hue and no na. The same release says Dabin.kr, the South Korean rapper formerly known as DPR LIVE, will perform in the United States for the first time under his current name, and that the festival will include a curated lineup of Asian food vendors from across the diaspora.

The venue opens at 1:00 p.m. and the curfew is 11:00 p.m. The event is all ages and runs rain or shine, and there is no re-entry once attendees are inside. Children 5 and under enter free with a ticketed adult. The 1999 CLUB lounge bar is 21 and over, and a physical government-issued photo ID is required — the festival will not accept school IDs, expired IDs, photocopies or digital IDs. The grounds are cashless.

The festival grounds are at 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena, CA 91103. Parking lots open at 11:00 a.m. General parking is $45 in advance and preferred parking is $95, with day-of pricing available on site if the lots have not sold out. A free shuttle runs continuously between the Parsons Parking Lot in Old Town Pasadena and Rose Bowl Lot B; parking at Parsons is $20 on the day of the show, credit cards only. Metro riders can take the A Line to Memorial Park Station, then walk west on Holly Street past Fair Oaks Avenue to the shuttles on the far side of the Parsons lot. Rideshare pickup and drop-off is in Lot H, and bicycle parking is in the north portion of Lot I. No overnight parking, recreational vehicles, tailgating or camping are permitted.

The festival’s accessibility page describes the ground underfoot plainly: the terrain is primarily grass with gravel pathways, and some stretches carry a slight incline. An Accessibility Services Hub inside the grounds issues accessibility wristbands and registers service animals, with no advance registration required. Accessible parking is in Lot D and requires both a valid Disabled Person Parking placard and a general parking pass. The festival does not rent wheelchairs or scooters. Accessibility questions go to adafestivals@goldenvoice.com; the screen-reader assistance line is (888) 226-0076.

As of August 2, passes were listed at $199 for general admission, $349 for VIP and $499 for the 1999 CLUB, sold through AXS at la.hitcfestival.com. Students can claim a 20% discount with a college or university email address. At the March announcement, the organizers’ press release listed those tiers at $179, $329 and $479, with all prices including service fees and taxes.

Brookside is still a golf course under all of it — grass, gravel, fairways that tilt. By 11:00 p.m. Saturday, the sound has to stop.

NEED TO KNOW

Head in the Clouds: LA 2026 takes place Saturday, August 8, 2026, at Brookside at the Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena, CA 91103. The venue opens at 1:00 p.m. and the curfew is 11:00 p.m. The event is ticketed and all ages, and it runs rain or shine with no re-entry. As of August 2, general admission passes were listed at $199, VIP at $349 and 1999 CLUB at $499, sold through AXS; students can claim a 20% discount using a college or university email address, and children 5 and under enter free with a ticketed adult. Parking lots open at 11:00 a.m., with general parking at $45 and preferred parking at $95 in advance and day-of pricing on site if lots have not sold out; a free shuttle runs continuously from the Parsons Parking Lot in Old Town Pasadena, where day-of parking is $20, credit cards only. Metro riders can take the A Line to Memorial Park Station and walk west on Holly Street past Fair Oaks Avenue to the shuttle. Accessible parking is in Lot D and requires a valid Disabled Person Parking placard along with a general parking pass. The Rose Bowl’s general line is (626) 577-3100, and the festival’s accessibility line is (888) 226-0076, which organizers note is not a ticketing number. Event details are at https://la.hitcfestival.com/ and https://la.hitcfestival.com/info/.