* This story has been modified from its original version

The three-day KAABOO Del Mar music festival that rocked the Del Mar Fairgrounds this weekend hit a sour note with some residents in surrounding communities, fueling dozens of noise complaints.

The festival featured more than 100 artists on multiple stages throughout the fairgrounds, including acts such as The Killers, No Doubt, Bonnie Raitt and Snoop Dogg. People from as far as three miles away said some of the music rattled windows and nerves, and made it difficult to sleep and hold conversations in their homes.

Some said the noise on Sunday was especially loud.


“Sunday night’s acts created a sound assault that was beyond anything we have ever experienced in our 40 years (here), and we live on the south end of Del Mar,” said Nat Antler, in an email to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

KAABOO DEL MAR FESTIVAL

KAABOO organizers did not immediately return requests for comment. They had worked hard in the festival’s planning process to avoid any problems, holding community meetings in August and making a presentation to the City Council in June to talk about the event and what was being done to manage any negative impacts.

They also set up a special hotline for noise complaints, and created an entertainment schedule that made sure all outdoor performances ended by 10 p.m. each night.

Del Mar officials said the city received 18 voice mails complaining about noise over the weekend, as well as six emails and many other calls that they referred to the noise hotline.


The city has no power to regulate activity at the fairgrounds, but has lobbied the venue repeatedly to be a good neighbor and be mindful of how events impact the surrounding community. City officials said they are analyzing the response to the KAABOO festival and will make a formal presentation to the City Council at its next meeting.

“We’re planning to do a debrief on lessons learned, things we would do again things we could do differently and then we’ll have the same kind of conversation with the KAABOO organizers and with the fairgrounds staff,” said Kristen Crane, Del Mar’s management services director.

She said many of the noise complaints came from Carmel Valley and the Del Mar Heights areas and 12 of the 18 calls came in on Sunday.

“There seemed to be something unusual with how the noise was traveling (on Sunday),” Crane said.


The last performance of the weekend was by the alternative rock band, The Killers, whose concert started about 8:30 p.m. Sunday and ended at 10 p.m.

Del Mar Fairgrounds CEO and General Manager Tim Fennell said his staff hasn’t had the chance to review the noise complaints but will do so soon.

“The first thing we’re going to do is let KAABOO pack up and once that’s done we’re going to have the two teams (fair staff and KAABOO organizers) sit down and talk about it and take any appropriate measures,” Fennell said. “Our goal is to see what we can do to mitigate those issues.”

Dates for next year’s KAABOO festival are already set for Sept. 16-18.