New Location for CavernFest 2026

By Misty Cryer

CavernFest is a significant family-friendly festival in Carlsbad that has been a popular attraction since its inception. With free admission, live music, shopping opportunities, food and beverage vendors, and enjoyable activities, droves of people from far and near look forward to this exciting event hosted by Carlsbad MainStreet.

CavernFest 2026 is set for June 12-13 and will be held at Lake Carlsbad Beach Park this year. With music being a main attraction, Denise Green, Executive Director of Carlsbad MainStreet, said the main stage will be set up in the parking lot by the beach with local artists performing at the bandshell.

“Music will start on the main stage at 6 o’clock,” said Green. The opening acts on Friday include Zac Wilkerson and Slade Coulter. “Our headliner for Friday night is RaeLynn,” she said.

On Saturday, Dzaki Sukarno and Gannon Fremin & CCREV will be opening for headliner Easton Corbin, said Green.

Before the main stage opens on Friday, Green said the Beer Garden will open around 4 p.m. with food vendors set up and ready to go before that. “We have a few local artists playing at the bandshell,” she said, adding that DJ Ornelas is managing that and will play in between performances.

On Friday, Alize Roper is expected to perform around 1 p.m. “She’s a younger girl; she is going to sing a few songs,” said Green. Charlie and the Rangers will play at the bandshell at 4 p.m.

On Saturday, Green said, Isaiah Romero and Severn will be the local artists playing at the bandshell.

“Some of our sponsors will be set up on Friday night,” said Green. “Other vendors will set up on Saturday. They will be able to be there from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.,” she said.

The Kids Zone area will be set up by the water park, said Green. “That will have our foam, Nerf n Fun, we’ll have jousting, and then a bouncy house there from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. That will be free for kids to play,” she said.

“The Boys and Girls Club is also doing a volleyball tournament on Saturday, starting at 10,” said Green, adding that it is a fundraiser for the club.

Registration for the 5K race will start at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, said Green. Pre-registration is available online through their website. “That is a partnership with the local running group, The Roadrunners,” she said.

One of the MainStreet merchants, Desert Daze, previously had yoga on the courthouse lawn during CavernFest. Green said they will have a yoga class at the bandshell on Saturday at 8 a.m.

Parking will be available on the street, said Green. “We will also have parking at the Cascades. The bridges are back up and running right now, so people can park across the river at the PRV (Pecos River Village) and the Recreation Center and walk across the river,” she said.

“Our main sponsor again this year is Chevron. They have been a continuous supporter of our organization and this event for many years. We just want to give them a shout out,” said Green. With the sponsorship levels’ names changed, she said Chevron is the King’s Palace sponsor.

“Our Big Stage sponsor, which is Bad Bass BBQ, and then of course all of the other sponsors and partners that we have, we couldn’t do this event if we didn’t have all of them,” said Green.

“I would also like to give a shoutout to my MainStreet team. We have all started within this year, and it has been a great learning process. I definitely couldn’t do it without my team and the board of directors, all of their support,” she said.

“We’re looking forward to another great CavernFest, and we’re excited to have everyone down at the beach this year,” said Green.

CavernFest has historically been hosted within the MainStreet district. “The reason that we moved it was because of the uncertainty of when the construction at the courthouse was going to start, so we made the executive decision that we were going to move it down to the beach area for the time being. We’re just playing it by ear right now, as to what our plan for next year will be,” said Green.