US Festival 1983 — Glen Helen Regional Park, San Bernardino

The 1983 US Festival at Glen Helen Regional Park was one of the most extravagant rock events ever staged, bankrolled by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak at an estimated cost of $12.5 million. The three-day festival featured themed days — 'New Wave Day,' 'Heavy Metal Day,' and 'Rock Day' — with Heavy Metal Day drawing an estimated 375,000 people to see Van Halen (paid a then-record $1.5 million for a single performance), the Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, and Mötley Crüe. David Lee Roth famously opened Van Halen's set by declaring it 'the biggest party in the world.'

The US Festival was Wozniak's attempt to combine technology and music in a celebration of community, inspired by Woodstock. The 1982 edition featured The Kinks, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, and The Police, while the 1983 event leaned harder into rock and metal. Despite massive attendance, both festivals lost tens of millions of dollars. The events are remembered as peak early-80s excess — a sun-scorched desert mega-party with state-of-the-art screens and sound systems that were decades ahead of their time.

Glen Helen Regional Park remains an active outdoor venue and regional park in the hills above San Bernardino, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. The venue, now known as Glen Helen Amphitheater, still hosts concerts and events. The park also offers swimming, fishing, and hiking trails. There is no permanent memorial to the US Festival on site, but the amphitheatre's continued use for large-scale events is a direct legacy of Wozniak's vision.