BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The Bakersfield native, Matty Roberts, who created the Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop Us All, event is prepping to take on the desert with the now turned alien enthusiast festival taking place this month.
"I didn’t think I would be on my way to Nevada after I posted this thing," Roberts said. "Its really all kind of nuts."
It is just 14 days away from the festival which was just approved for its final permit in Nevada this week.
"The city is on board with it and I even had people who live in Lincoln County reach out to me on Facebook who want to volunteer so that’s cool," said Roberts. "They are some older folks who had concerns about their lands, but I reassured them that they will be safe and I understand this is their lively hood."
Roberts is heading to Nevada on Friday and will stay until the end of September to work on the festival. Due to the demands of planning Roberts says he has had to make some life changes to accommodate the needs of the festival.
"I am taking this semester off just for this thing. It is taking up all of my time. I wake up thinking about this thing. I take the entire day working on this thing. I go to sleep thinking about this thing so I have no time for school," Roberts said .
The free festival is expected to have an out of this world entertainment, adult-sized beer pong, over 25 vendors and art installations.
"We are going to have camping and activities for campers," Roberts said. "We are going to have a lot of music, great local artists and bands. We also are going to have a street artist who will do live paintings and so much more."
The festival already has sold over 5,000 campsites and is expected to have close to 12,000 people just in its first year.
With much attention around it even caught the attention of the FBI. Roberts says he is constantly in communication with them and they are taking all precautions.
"We will have law enforcement on the perimeter of the festival which is a huge help, so we will have security both outside and inside," Roberts said. "Inside will be contracted security and they are there to make sure no-one tries to radicalize this."
Roberts says they will have big names artists and a surprise sponsor, but they can’t release their names yet. He also urges attendees to be on the lookout for them at the festival beginning on Sept. 20th.
Roberts wants to remind attendees again, that they will not storm the Area 51 base, but hope to take Nevada by storm, and create an annual event.
