A new music festival is coming to metro Phoenix.

The inaugural Luna del Lago Festival will be held at Pleasant Harbor at Lake Pleasant from Friday, November 3, to Sunday, November 5.

The man behind the event is Brannon Kleinlein, owner of central Phoenix music venue Last Exit Live and one of the primary organizers of Apache Lake Music Festival, the beloved annual event that ran for 10 years and ended in 2019.

However, Kleinlein explains, this isn't going to be ALMF 2.0.

For example, Luna del Lago will have bands from all over the country on the bill in addition to a heavy local music presence, whereas ALMF lineups were composed of Arizona bands and artists with an Arizona connection.

Also, the location in the northwest Valley will allow attendees to choose between camping at the festival and going home each night; ALMF's remote location in Roosevelt, Arizona, made staying overnight virtually mandatory. Kleinlein says that RV camping (with and without hookups), car camping, and tent camping will all be options.

Kleinlein says that he began planning a new festival after the 10th anniversary of ALMF in 2019. The marina was up for sale, the road conditions sometimes made it challenging to get there, and the festival was starting to outgrow the space.

After the Schuster family, longtime owners of the Apache Lake Resort and Marina, put the property up for sale, "I started looking for a new location right then," Kleinlein says. "I felt like it wasn’t going to be the same no matter who bought it."

He had an event booked at Pleasant Harbor for November 2020, which of course was canceled when the COVID-19 pandemic began. But now, he's able to realize the plans he began several years ago.

The festival lineup will be announced in the spring, as will the start of ticket sales. But in the meantime, mark your calendar for the latest addition to the metro Phoenix festival scene.

Check the Luna del Lago Festival website for updates.