Mendocino County Approves Bigger Northern Nights Festival, Second Event

Dr. Peter Houston, one of the founders of Northern Nights, speaking before the Mendocino Planning Commission. [Screengrab from the video]

The Mendocino County Planning Commission voted unanimously June 4 to approve a renewal and expansion of the Northern Nights Music Festival permit, allowing the event to continue through 2037 while increasing its maximum attendance to 10,000 people and authorizing an additional two-day event at the Cook’s Valley Campground and County Line Ranch near Piercy.

Although often associated with northern Mendocino County, Northern Nights is not confined to one county. Camping, parking and other festival activities occur on both sides of the Humboldt-Mendocino county line, requiring approvals from both jurisdictions.

“The activities and parking occur not only on Mendocino County land, but also on neighboring properties located in Humboldt County,” Mendocino County planner Dirk Larson told commissioners during the hearing.

Larson noted that Humboldt County had already approved the associated permit for the portions of the event occurring within its jurisdiction.

The approval allows organizers to hold events on any weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day and increases the maximum on-site population from roughly 8,400 people previously permitted to 10,000 people, including attendees, campers, staff, vendors, artists and volunteers.

Commissioners spent part of the discussion examining how that attendance cap would be counted given that the event spans two counties.

Commissioner Marie Jones questioned whether organizers could effectively count 10,000 attendees in each county.

Festival co-founder Peter Houston said the limit represents total people on site, which organizers refer to as “beating hearts.”

Houston told commissioners the organization has intentionally chosen not to pursue much larger attendance numbers.

“We’re very cognizant of it,” he said, adding that events with 20,000 or 30,000 attendees “just didn’t ever go very well.”

Instead of expanding the existing festival beyond 10,000 attendees, organizers requested approval for a second event.

Northern Nights began as a 3,500-person festival in 2013 and has gradually expanded through a series of permit modifications approved by Humboldt and Mendocino counties. The festival now includes camping, food vendors, alcohol service, craft booths and regulated cannabis sales and consumption areas.

The June 4 approval follows years of county monitoring that officials say have produced few concerns.

According to a Humboldt County Planning Department staff report prepared during a previous permit review, county staff monitored the 2022 Northern Nights festival and “did not observe any violations of the permit conditions.” Staff reported that vehicle parking and camping along the river bar complied with permit requirements, no leaking vehicles were observed, and cannabis operations were conducted in a compliant manner.

The same report stated that 6,587 people attended the 2022 festival, with 2,815 vehicles on site. Of those attendees, 1,721 camped within the Humboldt County portion of the event and 1,573 vehicles were parked there.

Mendocino County staff similarly told commissioners they were unaware of complaints from neighboring property owners, surrounding communities or responsible agencies related to Northern Nights.

The renewed permit allows up to 9,000 campers and 4,500 vehicles and authorizes a second two-day event with up to 5,000 attendees.

Commissioners approved the permit without opposition from the public. No public comments were offered during the hearing, and the commission’s final vote was unanimous.

Northern Nights is scheduled to return to Cook’s Valley Campground July 17-19, 2026.