Tucson’s Dusk Music Festival 2019

By alantvuong on November 18, 2019

Dusk Music Festival is an annual music, food and arts festival that takes place in Tucson, Arizona. It started as a 1 day festival on October 22, 2016 at Rillito Park and became a 2 day festival the year after on October 6 to 7. The event moved to Armory Park for 2018 and also moved to the second weekend of November where it currently stays. This is an all ages festival and features different genres of music including rock, hip hop, indie pop and edm. There are also art installations, sculptures, murals, arcade and food served exclusively by Tucson restaurants.

thanks again Caitlin (hanging out at VIP area of main stage)

General admission weekend passes start at about $119 plus taxes and fees and the event runs from 3pm to 11pm on Saturday and 3pm to 10pm on Sunday. Thanks again to Chad and Caitlin, me and my buddy got to attend a unique smaller music festival that has different types of music. The 2019 edition of Dusk features Kaskade, Rezz and Two Door Cinema Club as headliners.

line up poster

Getting There

We stayed at Red Lion Inn & Suites which is downtown and is about a 30 minute walk/stroll to Armory Park, where Dusk Music Festival is held. Luckily, Tucson’s streetcar Sun Link was free all weekend as it was sponsored by the music festival and Dependable Healthcare & Nursing. The Sun Link station was only a block from our hotel and brought us only a couple blocks from the festival. The streetcar was really wheelchair accessible and was very convenient for us. The Sun Link was in operations until 2am on Saturday and ends 8pm on Sunday. We took the Sun Link both times going to Dusk Festival and on the Saturday night after the after party. On the Sunday, we just walked/strolled back to the hotel.

taking the accessible street car for FREE all weekend

Armory Park

Armory Park is a historical Park located downtown Tucson and with this being a smaller music festival, it was easy to get from one end of the park to the other end. There were paved pathways that were surrounded by grassy areas and fields. I really liked how the festival put really wide ramps on each side of the grass area connecting to the pathways. This gave us a lot of room to maneuver around. There were also signs pointing us to accessible routes. The weather was pretty hot both days of the festival and it never rained so it kept the grass dry and never soggy or muddy.

This is great accessibility with curb ramps everywhere and not restricted to corners

As with other music festivals, there were also over sized wheelchair accessible porta potties at each area of bathrooms. We never seemed to be waiting that long as it was not as busy as other events I have been to. People were also very courteous and allowed us to use the accessible bathrooms first.

there is 1 of these larger accessible porta potties at each bathroom area

3 Music Stages

There are 3 music stages at Dusk Music Festival. The main stage is called San Carlos Stage, while the second one is named Armory Stage and a small stage with local acts called Discover Stage. Since the two main stages were not too far apart distance wise, music acts alternated between the two and music was never overlapping each other. Only the Discovery Stage had almost a continuous flow of music playing stopping only about 5 to 10 minute break intervals for set changes. This third stage was newly added for 2019.

Fitz and the Tantrums at main stage

San Carlos Stage was the only stage to feature a wheelchair accessible viewing area. The whole set up was a bit different than any other festival I have been to. This area was only a square patch of grass located a bit back from the stage and was fenced on three of the sides. There was no one monitoring the area and anyone could just sit on the grass in the semi-fenced area. That area was not even raised but since it was further back, the stage could still be seen. We did not use this area except the once for reviewing purposes. We hung out most our times in the VIP section which has a better view and was not too crowded.

wheelchair viewing area at San Carlos Stage

Armory Stage was the second main stage and was easy to get to from the main stage. Since this stage did not have a designated wheelchair area, we were allowed in the VIP section, which was again close to the stage and not as crowded. If we were to go to the general viewing area, it would be a bit too chaotic and hard to see as everyone crams to the front to see the stage. Both areas though are on grass but since it didn’t rain both days of the festival, the ground was completely dry and easy to get around.

VIP area of Armory Stage

The smallest stage was the Discovery Stage and it showcased mostly up and coming local Tucson artists. We did not spend too much time here as we wanted to see the other artists. We did just stop here to see how the accessibility was. Again it was located on grass and did not have a wheelchair area. Since this stage featured only smaller name artists, it never got busy like the other 2 stages. We had no problems seeing the stage at all and this stage had music playing more continuous than the other 2 stages.

checking out Discovery Stage before any artists come on

We both really enjoyed the diversity of the music and loved how we got to do this in just one music festival. Most events I have been to just feature edm and maybe a small mix of hip hop artists. I don’t think I could go to an entire rock festival for a weekend but was really happy I got to see a few artists at Dusk Music Festival. I think this festival has the right idea of mixing it up a little to entice all types of people to come.

we got to meet Cray after her set at Armory Stage

Art and Food

Most music festivals do showcase some kind of art and always have a variety of food options, but it is great that Dusk Music Festival actually mentions that they are also an art and food festival in addition to music. I thought this festival had just as much paintings and sculptures as any other festival but not more. The food options found here features local restaurants from Tucson and not big National chains we all heard of. All the shops and vendors will only be accepting Dusk cashless payments as in our RFID wristbands, which can either be topped up or linked to a credit card. I like this system as it is easier than grabbing a credit or debit card or cash every time a purchase is to be made.

a look at some of the art

cantinas queso fries… so good

After Parties

There were official after parties both nights of the festival. On the Saturday, Wax Motif was headlining at Hi Fi Kitchen & Cocktails. The club was a bit crowded but luckily we arrived when Dusk Music Festival ended at 11 and got up close to the stage. Goldroom’s DJ set was at Hotel Congress on the Sunday and the night club area had a few steps to get into. Staff brought out a portable ramp so I could be easily wheeled in. Both nights were pretty fun as it capped off a great day of music.

at Wax Motif after party

Overall, I had a great time at Dusk Music Festival. It was great to listen to rock, indie and edm all in one place. It was great to see all ages and different types of people and families enjoying such a fun and musical event. Although there were no accessible viewing platforms, views of all 3 stages were pretty good especially the VIP sections of the 2 main stages. This festival definitely rivals with the the other big festivals that I have been to, and thanks again to Chad and Caitlin for having us and I can’t wait to see this festival grow and be bigger and better next year.