Organizers announced Wednesday that Country Thunder Alberta is cancelled, just two days before the music festival was set to begin at The Confluence Historic Site and Parkland in Calgary.
The online notice places the blame squarely on the City of Calgary, and said the cancellation comes despite “exhaustive efforts to find a workable path forward.”
But Mayor Jeromy Farkas came out swinging against that.
“To be clear, Country Thunder made a business decision. It should own that decision, instead of blaming the city for rules and conditions that it knew about well in advance,” Farkas said.
Noise disputes and construction woes
The festival cited several issues, including construction near and on the festival grounds, but said the biggest issue was the city’s “restrictive sound limitations.”
“That was kind of the nail in the coffin as far as, you know, we just cannot make this happen,” Country Thunder spokesperson Megan Benoit told CBC Radio’s The Homestretch.
Calgary’s concert noise restrictions have been in the spotlight over the last week, with a wave of politicians weighing in.
Benoit said the issue was not about how late concerts can run, since the festival’s main stage wraps at 10:30 p.m., with a hard stop at 11 p.m.
Instead, she pointed to noise limits that she said are “not conducive for any sort of live music event.”
In a statement, the city said it actually increased the decibel limit this year for Country Thunder, and Farkas said the new rules for off-site Stampede tents would not have applied.
“They are trying to bandwagon and dogpile onto the misinformation and B.S. that existed on the Cowboys tent conversation, and it didn’t even apply to them,” said Farkas, referring to ongoing disagreements with the organizers of another music festival.
Country Thunder organizers also pointed to issues with traffic reduction along Ninth Avenue, and a water line bypass pipe through the festival site that they say makes some areas unusable.
“Taken individually, each of these barriers would represent a serious challenge. Together, they create conditions that no responsible event organizer can accept,” the online statement said.
Farkas said work on the water bypass pipe began in January, and said the city has been working with organizers to mitigate concerns.
Benoit said the festival met with city representatives Wednesday morning. The city confirmed the meeting happened, but said Country Thunder representatives seemed satisfied with the plans in place for this weekend, with no warning a cancellation was coming.
“Country Thunder has issued broad allegations after cancelling an event without notifying the City of Calgary or The Confluence in advance. As mayor, I am profoundly disappointed,” Farkas said.
The Country Thunder music festival in Calgary was set to begin June 26. On Wednesday, organizers announced the festival is cancelled. (Country Thunder Alberta/Instagram)
Organizers were still promoting the festival on social media as recently as Tuesday.
This would have been the festival’s 10th year. While it typically runs in August, this year it was moved up earlier to the last weekend in June, just before Stampede.
Benoit said it was moved to coincide with a busier tourist time in the city, when fewer Calgarians might be out of town, and that despite the schedule change, ticket sales were strong.
“I know that people are going to speculate, and I can confirm that this had nothing to do with ticket sales. This was something that really feels out of our control,” said Benoit.
A weekend general admission pass cost $369, including fees and taxes, according to a webpage still accessible as of Wednesday.
The festival is promising a full refund to people who bought tickets.
Local artist sad to lose opportunity
Lainey Wilson, Kane Brown and The Red Clay Strays were all scheduled to take the stage.
Benoit said organizers have been in touch with the artists, who are “disappointed,” much like organizers are. She said it would not be possible to put on the festival at another time this summer, but left the door open to it returning in future years.
Calgary artist Jaiden Riley was set to take the stage on Saturday afternoon, after winning the opportunity as part of Ranchman’s rising star competition.
Calgary artist Jaiden Riley was set to take the stage at Country Thunder this weekend. She said the last-minute cancellation is ‘absolutely devastating.’ (Helen Pike/CBC)
“It’s absolutely devastating,” Riley said.
She said the cancellation came as a surprise. She was still rehearsing with her band Tuesday night and found out the festival was scrapped a few hours before the general public.
“As a local artist, it’s a pretty big stage. It’s a pretty big opportunity for someone like me and for my band,” said Riley.
“Obviously, my whole career doesn’t hang on one show, but [it] certainly would have been the biggest to date, and naturally could foresee other big opportunities coming from it.”