The man behind 25 years of Summer Sonic

Summer Sonic began in 2000 with two stages, 29 musical acts and more than 15,000 attendees. Twenty-five years later, its creator is expecting between 300,000 and 330,000 people at the event’s three-day anniversary edition. 

“Since we had Green Day as a headliner, it was totally full,” recalls Naoki Shimizu, president of Creativeman Productions, of the inaugural event held at Fuji-Q Highland amusement park. One thing he learned from running a summer music festival? Book a bigger venue. 

More stages were added the following year, and for its 25th edition, Summer Sonic will once again be held concurrently in Chiba and Osaka — the festival’s two homes since 2001 — with a total of 199 artists performing over the course of the weekend.