Insomniac Events’ longest-running festival, Nocturnal Wonderland, has been cancelled due to the fast-growing wildfires in California, US.

The electronic music-focused camping festival, which was launched in 1995, was scheduled to be held this weekend (14-15 September) at Glen Helen Regional Park in San Bernardino.

Acts booked to appear included Kaskade, RL Grime, San Holo, Jesse Brooks, Discovery Project, Apashe, Airglo and Jessica Audiffred, but the event will no longer go ahead.

“While Nocturnal Wonderland was cleared to move forward at the time of our last update, we are saddened to inform you that new fires in the San Bernardino area have ignited over the past 36 hours and are now approaching the Glen Helen Amphitheater,” says a statement from the festival.

“After further discussions with local authorities, due to the impact of the fires surrounding the venue, we will be unable to proceed with Nocturnal Wonderland”

“The health and safety of festival attendees and staff is our highest priority. After further discussions with local authorities, due to the impact of the fires surrounding the venue, we will be unable to proceed with Nocturnal Wonderland.”

Currently, there are 16 active wildfires in California that have burned 613,819 acres.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the fires throughout San Bernardino and Southern California,” adds the event. “We understand the importance of ensuring that local resources are fully dedicated to managing the fires and protecting the surrounding communities.

“In the coming days, we will share more information on how our dance music community can come together to support and give back to the courageous firefighters and those displaced or affected by the fires.”

Last Sunday, a Vance Joy concert at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl was called off following a heat-related power outage, as the Californian city battled extreme heat of up to 104°F (40°C).

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Police made over 400 arrests at Nocturnal Wonderland at the San Manuel Amphitheater in California last weekend, but – in news that bodes well for promoter Insomniac’s strained relationship with San Bernardino County – there were no recorded deaths.

A total of 428 people – one in every 157 of the EDM event’s 67,195 attendees – were arrested, the majority for trespassing, public intoxication and possession of ecstasy, says the San Bernardino sheriff’s department, and 20 people hospitalised, but, like sister event Beyond Wonderland in late March, the festival was fatality-free.

A proposal to ban raves at the 65,000-capacity amphitheatre was struck down by San Bernardino County councillors in June, although Janice Rutherford, the councillor (or ‘supervisor’) behind the original motion is attempting to revive the bill following the deaths of two young people at Hard Summer at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana – promoted by Insomniac parent company Live Nation – last month.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

The board of supervisors of San Bernardino County has rejected a proposal which would have seen electronic dance music (EDM) events banned from the San Manuel Amphitheater, the home of Insomniac Events’ Beyond Wonderland and Nocturnal Wonderland.

The motion was proposed by Janice Rutherford, a member of San Bernardino County’s board of supervisors (roughly equivalent to a county council), in the first week of May. The supervisor cited the “dozens, if not hundreds” of complaints she said she has received from residents since the two events moved to the 65,000-capacity amphitheatre in Devore, California, in 2013, when the county entered into a contract with Insomiac parent Live Nation.

But Rutherford’s proposal failed to gain majority support when it went to vote on Tuesday, reports the San Bernardino Sun, with councillor Curt Hagman opposing and James Ramos and Josie Gonzales absent.

Live Nation employs more than 1,200 people at each of its events at the amphitheatre, and San Bernardino collects $1.4m in rent from the promoter annually

Instead of voting to sever the county’s contract with Live Nation, the three members of the board present agreed instead to petition Live Nation to end the events at 23.00 instead of their usual finishing times of 3.00 the next morning.

Matt Prieshoff, chief operating officer for Live Nation in California, said at the meeting that the promoter employs more than 1,200 people at each of its events at the amphitheatre. The county collects US$1.4 million in rent from Live Nation annually, and has earnt over $500,000 over the last two years as a percentage of ticket sales.

Devore resident Karen Slobom, quoted by the Sun, said the vote demonstrated “how economics – money – supersedes the lives and well-being of the people”.

Nearly 250 people were arrested at this year’s Beyond Wonderland for various offences including trespassing, being drunk in public and drug-related crimes, chiefly possession of ecstasy/MDMA with intent to supply, and one person died of a drug overdose in 2015.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.