Organizers of MELT Fest, a sustainability-focused party featuring mostly local Phoenix artists, have announced that it will relocate its festivities from Arcosanti to Playa Ponderosa, a beloved forest camping and event space just outside Flagstaff known for hosting June Jam.
The announcement came just two weeks before MELT begins on May 9.
“It says so much about MELT crew and the people who make this event special, that facing cancellation within days of our event, we were able to find such an incredible home for MELT 2025!” festival organizer Lyle Begiebing told Phoenix New Times in a written statement. “This site and the people who created it are deeply aligned with our values of creativity, sustainability, and freedom.”
Now, festival goers will have the chance to dance beneath the pines of northern Arizona rather than atop a cliffside overlooking the edge of the Sonoran Desert. They won’t be melting quite as much anymore, either. While highs were expected to top 80 degrees at Arcosanti, Flagstaff is projected to reach between 60 and 70 degrees during the day and lows between 30 and 40 degrees at night.
In addition to two stages of reggae, rock, house, techno and bass performances by 60 live acts and DJs, the festival planned to feature visual artists, a speaker series, yoga, a tattoo artist, sound healing and other workshops — 80% of which are still confirmed after the venue change, Begiebing told New Times. The festival is still accepting applications for more artists and collaborators.
Now that MELT will be held at Playa Ponderosa, the second stage will be atop a massive pirate ship built by Phoenix artists Mikey Butzine and Sambo Jones and among three pine trees. The festival is also planning to bring in TopSecret Bus, a converted school bus with a roof deck, to roam the playa.
Environmental consciousness
After originally branding the event as “MELT Fest Arcosanti,” organizers have started to take Arcosanti off for the event, though the website still features the experimental town’s name. Organizers said they would grant full refunds to anyone who doesn't want to go to the new site.
At the core of the festival is ecological consciousness by taking the idea of a weekend throwdown and making it more environmentally friendly. For one, it’s a BYOC (bring your own cup) party in which guests are expected to abide by a leave no trace policy. To cut down on the carbon footprint, organizers are encouraging attendees to carpool.
Organizer John Elvis Taska (who’s also running for Tempe City Council) told New Times in an interview before the venue change that those principles were inspired by Arcosanti, an experimental village and architectural project designed by Italian architect Paolo Soleri and built starting in 1970. Leading up to MELT’s inaugural last year, the festival’s organizers made close relationships with residents of Arcosanti.
“We wanted to learn more about Arcosanti and give it new life,” Taska said. “We joined forces with some of the residents in a collaborative effort to celebrate artists in Phoenix and the artists that are living within Arcosanti, cross-pollinating and learning from each other.”
The organizers — Taska, Begiebing and longtime Phoenix DJ Sean Watson — had also attended FORM Fest, a small festival at the site that brings in megaartists artists like Thundercat, Jamie xx and Skrillex.
“It felt out of touch in some regards,” Taska said. “It was a really wonderful experience. However, there was something left to be desired in terms of Arcosanti’s environmentally conscious principles. We saw a lot of the waste that can be created through parties and festivals and celebrations of the arts. I come from a background in solar energy and have a desire to see things that are healthier for our cities and environment.”
Taska added the bring-your-own-cup policy serves as a “great way to coach yourself into making wiser and more intentional decisions” about waste.
Changes in leadership
Begiebing said that the cause of the last-minute switch-up was related to “unforeseen circumstances following leadership changes at the site.”The nascent festival was held for the first time last May at Arcosanti, where a visit feels like being dropped in a Soviet science-fiction daydream set on Mars. Cacti, desert fauna and cypress trees grow around the thick brutalist concrete. The concept behind its design is what Soleri called arcology, in which structures are designed to blend with nature and high-density housing and shared spaces are supposed to promote democratic values. Arcosanti’s legacy has been complicated by the fact that Soleri’s daughter said he sexually abused her and tried to rape her when she was 17.
Arcosanti is managed by the Cosanti Foundation, a nonprofit with about $5 million in assets as of 2023, according to tax filings. Nicole Ackerina, whom the Cosanti Foundation’s website lists as interim chair of its board of directors, did not respond to a New Times inquiry about the “leadership changes” Begiebing mentioned.
English architect David Turnbull — who still lists CEO of the Cosanti Foundation on his Linkedin account — was terminated from that position on March 18, two sources with inside knowledge of the foundation told New Times. Turnbull didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.
Susie Timm, the foundation’s publicist, declined to say whether or not Turnbull was fired, nor whether the board plans to have a new CEO and executive director.
“Our board will have to decide how they want to vote on any new leadership roles,” Timm told New Times.
