After sold-out festivals from 2022 through 2025, When We Were Young announced it will not occur in 2026. Instead, the ’90s and 2000s emo and pop-funk festival will return in October 2027.

“The songs, the memories, the moments — none of it exists without you,” organizers of the Live Nation-produced festival posted over the weekend. “After an unforgettable run in Las Vegas, we’ve decided to take 2026 off to give this festival the care it deserves and to make sure what comes next feels just as special as what came before. When We Were Young Festival will return to Las Vegas in October 2027. Thank you for showing up with your whole hearts every year. This isn’t goodbye — it’s just a pause. We’ll see you in 2027.”

Though When We Were Young technically debuted in 2017 in Santa Ana, CA, the festival burst onto the national scene in 2022 when it moved to Las Vegas and revealed a massive lineup led by My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Bring Me The Horizon, Avril Lavigne, and many others. Originally announced as a one-day event, When We Were Young quickly sold out. The festival ultimately staged three days of the same lineup, then shifted to two days for 2023, 2024, and 2025.

In 2024, When We Were Young attracted controversy as headliners The All-American Rejects dropped off a week before the festival, claiming they never agreed to play their 2002 self-titled debut album in full, as advertised on the lineup poster. Fans were also quick to point out online that organizers mispelled eight of the band names on the official 2024 merch.

Shortly after When We Were Young’s October 2022 Vegas debut, Live Nation announced Sick New World. Also occurring at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds, Sick New World featured the same single-day format as WWWY, but focused on 2000s nu-metal and other heavier bands. The event canceled due to “unforeseen circumstances” in 2025, but will return even bigger in 2026 with festivals in Las Vegas and a new Texas expansion. System Of A Down will headline both editions.