The next month is critical prep time for El Paso to ensure the big BTS concert weekend runs smooth like butter.
As the region readies for a jam-packed May 2-3 weekend, event planners, logistics crews and law enforcement are working to make sure the city and concertgoers have what they need for a safe, fun time.
In addition to the K-pop superstars’ concerts at the Sun Bowl, expected to draw 50,000 fans each night, the weekend will include El Paso Comic Con and the inaugural Sol Summit festival in Downtown, plus Michelada Fest at Ascarate Park. Less than two weeks later, Post Malone performs at the Sun Bowl.
“It’s unfortunate scheduling,” said Troy Stegner, owner and promoter of Fatman Events, which runs El Paso Comic Con. “It just illustrates how all these people who complain there’s nothing to do in El Paso aren’t looking. It’s just unfortunate it’s happening on the same weekend in May for us.”
In 2025, Comic Con drew about 25,000 people to the El Paso Convention Center for the three-day weekend.
Stegner said they couldn’t reschedule this year’s convention. Planning to host their event at the El Paso Convention Center begins a year in advance.
Contracts with the convention center for security and first responders have already been agreed upon, and it would be almost impossible to reschedule vendors and celebrity appearances, he said.
The convention is May 1-3. Admission on Friday is free thanks to a sponsorship from Mango Cannabis, a chain of marijuana dispensaries.
“We’ve been doing this since 2016, but it’s existed since the ’80s,” Stegner said. “We want to make it bigger and better each year. We also want to do our best to try and keep tickets affordable.”
When Coldplay came to El Paso last June, the two sold-out shows at the Sun Bowl contributed more than $6 million to El Paso’s tourism industry, including a hearty boost to the hotel occupancy tax.
Hotels filled up, reaching 95% occupancy last June.
This year, lodging is scarce for the May 2-3 weekend, and many hotels and Airbnb short-term rentals are booked.
Jose Garcia, president and CEO of Destination El Paso, expects BTS’s economic impact to rival Coldplay’s.
“We could be looking at another record,” Garcia said. “El Paso is an entertainment destination. There is an appetite for ticketed, entertainment events. We have the facilities, and people like Live Nation are paying attention.”
Jorge Vazquez, executive director of the UTEP Office of Special Events, said his team is confident in its ability to handle the 50,000 BTS fans expected each night at Sun Bowl Stadium.
“They need to know that the stadium is reputable,” he said. “Even though our stadium, infrastructure-wise, is not as robust as an NFL stadium, we have a reputation that we know what we’re doing.”
Vazquez said preparations include tailoring services and resources toward BTS’s younger, female fanbase and first-time visitors to the region.
“We have to realize that, although the majority of tickets were sold in the region, not a lot of people have been to El Paso, let alone to the stadium,” he said. “We’re preparing a massive fan guide with as much information as possible. We want to have the information of what we do know early enough so people can start planning.”
During the Coldplay shows, Vazquez acknowledged, the demand for water was high.
“For Coldplay, we gave away more water than ever. A huge allotment of water was depleted in one day,” he said. “We had them for two days. It was depleted in one day.”
Vazquez is working with UTEP’s plumbers to hook up a water source for an endless supply for the BTS shows and future Sun Bowl concerts. The team is also finalizing a parking plan.
“We’re doing a lot more things that we had not done before because Coldplay set the bar at a different level and fan expectations,” he said. “This time around, having a permanent infrastructure will prepare us for this and future shows.”
Inside the Sun Bowl, the UTEP Police Department will handle venue security. That also includes the infamous mountain El Pasoans regularly climb to get a free peek at a Sun Bowl show.
The El Paso Police Department is also planning for that weekend.
“What we do is we look at how it’s going to affect the outside of the UTEP footprint, traffic control. You have all those venues that are down there – the restaurants, clubs and all that other stuff,” said El Paso Police Chief Pete Pacillas. “We look at how that affects us. The same thing with Downtown.”
The police department prioritizes daily city needs and then factors in officers and scheduling for events. For a city-sanctioned event, the budget for the officers comes from the police department. For others, event promoters pay for officers, Pacillas said.
He declined to provide the number of officers requested for the May weekend, citing security reasons.
Pacillas said the Office of Emergency Management, which includes the fire department, Red Cross and others, can be activated for large events.
“Everybody’s in one room so decisions can be made quickly, and those can be for planned events or emergency events,” Pacillas said.
Lessons learned from last year’s Coldplay concert are also informing this year’s planning.
“On the Coldplay concert, we got notified very late in the game – weeks before – that UTEP was requesting assistance. We were scrambling to help them out on that. We brought in the fire department so they could do their medical plan, all that,” Pacillas said. “The good side to that is we’ve done this so many times, we were able to bring the resources in pretty quick and get it as smooth as possible.”
One key takeaway was the need for more coordination and communication on public transportation, rideshare drop-offs and pickups, and commuter flow.
Complementary, not rivals
Vazquez said he is not concerned about other events happening around the city during the BTS concerts. He said the additional events add to the atmosphere.
Event organizers for Michelada Fest agree.
“We can all coexist that weekend,” said Fernando Nieto, co-founder of Michelada Fest. “I’m really excited to see what they do with Sol Summit. I’m a huge supporter of new, independent events.”
Michelada Fest, a Latin music festival, was started in Chicago in 2018. Nieto said they brought it to El Paso last year in hopes of becoming a flagship event.
The first festival in 2025 sold out with 8,000 attendees. Organizers hope to sell out with 12,000 people each night this year. Miguel Torres, festival co-founder, said the event will continue to grow as they present culturally relevant artists.
“As we think about these festivals, we think about the music we grew up to and the music we’re listening to now,” he said. “It’s about celebrating music all under one roof.”
Eric Pearson, president of the El Paso Community Foundation, which is presenting the Sol Summit Music & Cultura Festival, said the entertainment showcases the city.
The festival, long a dream of Pearson’s and other creators, features artists both big and small to appeal to El Pasoans’ musical tastes. It mainly caters to an older audience with families in mind, he said.
“The hope is that we’ll build on this, and I have some big ideas we can’t get into right now,” Pearson said. “I want to build something that makes our summers a cultural attraction.”
Seth Dodson, festival director for Sol Summit, said 3,000 to 4,000 attendees per day would be considered a sell-out event.
“The success for something like this, with that nonprofit angle, is we want this to resonate with the community,” Dodson said.
Pearson said the May weekend has the potential to shine a new spotlight on El Paso.
“It’s an opportunity to show what a beautiful city we have,” he said. “We were doing this before we knew BTS was coming to town, but we think it’s a boon to Sol Summit. We’re going to be 1/10 the size of that, but happily 1/10 the size.”