Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, Kings of Leon to headline 2020 Ohana Festival in Dana Point

Pearl Jam's lead singer Eddie Vedder, shown crouching at center, is the co-founder of the Ohana Festival in Dana Point.

The festival, which was co-founded by former North County resident Vedder, celebrates its fifth anniversary this year

San Diego Union-Tribune

March 9, 2020 12:42 PM PT

Pearl Jam lead singer and rhythm guitarist Eddie Vedder will do double-duty at the fifth annual Ohana Festival in Dana Point, where he will perform this fall with the band and on his own.

Kings of Leon are the third headliner for this year’s edition of the three-day festival, which takes place at Doheny State Beach between Sept. 25 and Sept. 27. The festival was co-founded by Vedder, who grew up in nearby in San Diego’s North County.

Kings of Leon will headline on Sept. 25, Vedder on Sept. 26 and Pearl Jam on Sept. 27. For fans in San Diego and Southern California unable to nab tickets to Pearl Jam’s sold-out April 13 Gigaton Tour concert at San Diego State University’s Viejas Arena, Ohana may provide a nearby option.

The co-headlining acts include the Chrissie Hynde-led Pretenders, My Morning Jacket, Maggie Rogers, Broken Social Scene and Mac Demarco.

The other confirmed acts for this year’s festival include Dermot Kennedy, Durand Jones & The Indications, CAAMP, The Frames, EOB (Ed O’Brien of Radiohead), Yola, Mon Laferte, Sharon Van Etten, Gang of Youths, Inhaler, Jade Bird and Cavetown.

Also performing will be Brian Fallon, Night Moves, Real Estate, Shovels & Rope, Combo Chimbita, Wild Belle, Son Little, Plague Vendor, Greer, Kevin Garrett, La Luz, Amo Amo, Modern Eyes, Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, Ethan Gruska, The Aquadolls, Liz Brasher, Timmy Curran, Jonny Roundhouse, Pony Bradshaw, Will Dailey and San Diego-bred surf legend Rob Machado.

Ticket prices for this year’s Ohana Festival are as follows: $138.50 for single-day tickets; $499.50 for VIP single-day passes; and $1,399.50 for VIP weekend passes, plus service fees.

Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday at 10 a.m. at ohanafest.com. A pre-sale for Pearl Jam fan club members is now underway.

A portion of the festival’s proceeds benefit environmental groups in and beyond Orange County, including the Doheny State Beach Foundation and San Onofre Parks Foundation.

Latest Music

George Varga

San Diego Union-Tribune music critic George Varga began drumming in rock bands at 12 and writing professionally about music at 15. A Louisiana native who grew up mostly in Germany, Varga has earned three Pulitzer Prize nominations for his writing at the U-T and is a voting member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In addition to providing live coverage of the Grammy Awards and festivals from Coachella and KAABOO to the 1994 edition of Woodstock, he has interviewed everyone from Miles Davis, Britney Spears and (over a game of chess) Ray Charles to Willie Nelson, Kanye West and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis. A triple first prize-winner for criticism and arts writing at the 2022 San Diego Press Club awards and a first prize-winner at the 2022 San Diego Society of Professional Journalists awards, Varga is also a contributing writer for Jazz Times magazine and has written for Billboard, Spin and other publications. After attending San Diego City College and San Diego State University, he created and taught the 2002 UC San Diego Extension course, “Jazz in a Post-Ken-Burns World.” Varga has written liner notes for more than a dozen albums, including by jazz sax greats James Moody and Michael Brecker, and contributed two chapters to the book, “Dylan: Disc By Disc.”