Punk Rock Bowling Statement

We know you’ve been waiting patiently for news about the next PRB and we want to thank you for that.

Putting Punk Rock Bowling together takes an enormous amount of hard work and dedication all year long. Our 25th PRB anniversary this year was an unforgettable celebration and we appreciate everyone who joined us. Without you there is no festival.

Life threw some unexpected challenges our way over these past several months and we are living in difficult times. Sadly, it has become clear that their will not be a PRB 2026. This was an incredibly tough reality for all of us to face. PRB isn’t just a festival, it’s a family reunion. It truly breaks our hearts not to be there for you in 2026.

Please keep showing love and support for your local bands, venues, and scenes; they are the lifeblood of punk rock. Because punk has never been just about music; it is resistance, solidarity and community.

We can’t wait to see you again in 2027.

With all our gratitude,
The PRB Team

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We started Punk Rock Bowling as a way to bring the punk community together, not just for the music but for the ideals that bind us. For the 2025 festival we created a 25 year anniversary book that is a reflection on where we came from, what we’re still fighting for, and why this community continues to matter more than ever. This is the forward to that book.

PRB started on Presidents Day weekend, 1999 as a bowling tournament and party in Las Vegas that BYO Records organized for fellow punk rock musicians, record labels, promoters, fanzines, and the community, that so many of us have had the good fortune to be involved in. It was created in the same DIY spirit that was the foundation of the Stern brothers’ band, Youth Brigade, and their label, BYO Records, which began in the early ’80s. Since then, PRB has grown and thrived to become a full-fledged four-day music festival, annually drawing thousands from around the world.

When we started playing music, touring around the world, running a record company, making the tour documentary Another State Of Mind, and promoting shows in the early ’80s, we never thought we would go on to create one of the longest-running punk rock festivals 40+ years later.

PRB celebrates the creative force and the community that has coalesced around the ideals of Punk Rock and its historical importance in the independent, thought-provoking protest music of the people. Since the beginning, we recognized our kindred spirit in the traditions of folk music in America and the crucial role it has played in the abolition, labor, suffragette, civil rights, anti-war, environmental, social justice, and LGBTQ movements throughout American history. This “Do It Yourself” movement, created by necessity around independent Punk Rock music, has been an integral force in building this community, which now has more than five decades of existence.

Our early punk community was drawn together by our disaffection with the co-opted excesses of the tumultuous ’60s hippy protests, after they helped end the Vietnam War and take down Nixon. Our anger and aggression were honed on the trickle-down fantasy of Reaganomics and the increased nationalism of Thatcherism. It’s ironic that so much of what we all fought against has now come raging back with a fascist authoritarian movement headed by a septuagenarian who is the worst American con man, grifter, and reality star in this country’s history. He is the face of the far-right movement, a continuation of a religious white nationalist ideology that formed the foundation of the Confederacy, and whose followers continue to attempt to overthrow the Republic.

The leaders of the current administration are currently dismantling groundbreaking legislation and reforms that have been implemented with steady success over the past century of progress in civil rights, women’s rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, immigrant and indigenous rights, racial justice, labor protections, environmental action, access to healthcare, education, and basic human dignity. Sometimes it feels overwhelming to keep pushing forward when it seems like everything’s moving backward. We are living in daunting times and humanity faces a crisis of conscience in America and throughout the world.

Through it all, one thing has remained true: all of you, our community. It is an absolute honor and pleasure to put this festival on each year to remind all of us that we’re here to celebrate the music that inspires us to come together, to understand and acknowledge our ability to fight against what we believe is wrong, and to stand up for everyone’s right to live a life free from hate, ignorance, and fascist religious authoritarian rule.

Thank you to everyone who has supported this festival, whether since day one or any year. You’re the reason it keeps going. Punk has never just been about a weekend or a show; it’s about how we live, how we treat each other, and how we show up for those who need us. We believe kindness is a virtue, and being part of this community means carrying that spirit forward, not just in the pit, but in the everyday. Keep fighting, keep caring, and keep pushing back. Now more than ever, that matters.

Shawn Stern, co-founder of Punk Rock Bowling, Youth Brigade and BYO Records