DIAMOND BAR, California —The worlds of motorsports, music and car culture come together this week for an auto show in Las Vegas with the launch of SEMA PartyPart music festival, part automotive playground, the two-day trade show, which runs November 3-4 at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds along the Las Vegas Strip, will spotlight some of the industry’s most iconic brands.
The show is the first foray of SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association), which produces the annual report SEMA Showin the consumer events space. “We saw changes in the marketplace in how businesses interact with the consumer, so we created a consumer membership program to make that connection even more valuable and open up our industry to everyone,” said Tom Gattuso, SEMA’s vice president of events. “Once that relationship developed, we wanted to create an event for them to connect B2C the same way they connected B2B.”
22 live acts will perform across two stages, including Imagine Dragons, Incubus, Wiz Khalifa, AJR, Third Eye Blind and Bush, as well as motorsport entertainment such as Formula Drift, Hoonigan and Nitro Circus demonstrations. Nitro Circus will add to the adrenaline-pumping action over the two days with its Big Air Freestyle Motocross (FMX) and Bike Motocross (BMX) show, featuring stunts and tricks that will push riders to their limits.
Other SEMA Fest highlights include Ride with Us, a learn-to-ride motorcycle experience; a consumer market with vendors and artisanal food, among other highlights; and an electronic gaming experience and competition hosted by NACL.
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SEMA Fest will kick off the same day as the SEMA Show, which will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center from October 31 to November 3.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring together the three elements of our market this week: manufacturing, distribution and the end user,” said Gattuso. “We have combined the passion for automobiles with the passion for music and created an iconic event that will be well received for years to come.”
Planning for SEMA Fest began more than a decade ago. In 2011, SEMA launched SEMA Cruise, which in 2014 became SEMA Ignited, the official Friday after-party of the SEMA Show.
“Producing a music festival is fundamentally similar to producing a trade show,” Gattuso explained. “There are significant differences and it’s been a steep learning curve, but we ended up putting together a great lineup of automotive and music performances and we’re thrilled to see how well it’s been received by the public. Our fan base, as well as our loyal B2B member base, have responded extremely well to the event and we’re looking forward to a fantastic celebration of the automotive lifestyle.”
Contact Tom Gattuso at tomg@sema.org