Exploring unique interpretations of Grateful Dead music, SKULL & ROSES 6 will be a 3-day psychedelic explosion. Deadheads new and old from across the universe will flock, rejoice and “flashback”. Beachside at the Ventura County Fairgrounds – where eleven iconic Grateful Dead concerts transpired from 1982-1987 – will once again serve as the backdrop over the weekend of April 19-21st.

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After nearly two weeks of cold rainy, and foggy weather on the southern California coast, the sun came out just in time for the opening day of the 2023 Skull and Roses Music Festival on Surfers Point in Ventura. The shortened first day of music, which began at 5 pm, was a bonus day for the many fans of the Grateful Dead genre who filled the sold-out campgrounds earlier in the day.

Thursday, April 20th, was the first full day of music at the 2023 Skull & Roses Music Festival. Many in the crowd happily celebrated 4-20 in a smokey haze during the 12-hour musical marathon. The fact that cannabis is now legal in California made the occasion all the more celebratory. A strong wind picked up, clearing the sky of clouds, making for a warm afternoon and a crystal-clear evening.

NO FOOLIN— The Skull & Roses Bay Area Warm-Up weekend continues on Saturday April 1st as CUBENSIS & THE ALLIGATORS make their way to Hopmonk Sebastopol for the one more Saturday night of good ol’ Grateful Dead to melt your worries away, put a smile on your face and then steal it right off your head.

Next year’s SKULL & ROSES at Ventura County Fairgrounds, April 19-23, 2023, will be the fifth incarnation of the gathering, which is thriving just like the rest of the Grateful Dead culture it celebrates. This little party by the sea has grown enormously both in numbers and sophistication, to the point of having an original member of the Grateful Dead headline the festival for a second time. But the commitment to joy, dancing, and peaceful community is unchanged, which is perhaps why it’s grown so much!

The final day of Skull and Roses 2022 dawned, revealing an overcast windless sky, which was a welcome respite from the hot, windy conditions from the days before. When Keller Williams and Grateful Grass took the stage in the early afternoon, the sun began to peek through the clouds revealing a vast crowd assembled for the festival finale.

The third day of the fourth Skull and Roses Festival saw the biggest crowds ever and record warm temperatures. A strong onshore wind helped mediate temperatures. When the Alligators rotated onstage just after 4 pm, the fairgrounds were packed with music fans. The band was actually created initially as a one-off to perform at the festival. According to promoter Dennis McNally, “The Gators came into being because Chris, the promoter of Skull and Roses, had a problem—and a vision.

The second day of the 2022 Skull and Roses Festival dawned bright and sunny. By mid-afternoon, the festival grounds swelled with a much larger crowd than the first day, with many day-trippers arriving for the first time. The temperature soared into the mid-'80s, a near-record for the day, but luckily a stiff breeze from the ocean cooled things off in the late afternoon. Kitesurfers began to replace the small army of surfers who had dominated surfers' point earlier in the day.