ST. LOUIS – The annual two-day music festival, LouFest, has been canceled as of today, Wed. Sept. 5th. LouFest was due to be held in Forest Park this weekend, Sept. 8th and 9th.
Reportedly, contractors that were to give specific services to LouFest during the event have pulled out.
LouFest’s Producer and Listen Live Entertainment’s Managing Partner, Mike Van Hee, wrote a letter to the St. Louis community addressing the event and the issues involved that have caused their decision to cancel this year.
“We know this is a great disappointment to many and that there has been wide speculation around our event,” wrote Van Hee. “We want to share what’s been going on directly with you.”
According to Van Hee’s letter, LouFest does not currently have the proper funds to issue back refunds to those who have already purchased tickets. However, “the exceptional festival ticketing company we selected, Front Gate Tickets, owned by Live Nation and Ticketmaster, will be stepping up to refund all fans in full while we work to repay our debts,” wrote Van Hee.
Van Hee said that LouFest has been working to overcome many setbacks in losing two top sponsors and having scheduling and contract issues for artists, as well as debt from previous events.
With their present “financial hurdles” and “fickle St. Louis weather” they thought it best to cancel this weekend’s event.
Van Hee explained that while the “pre-sale ticket volume has been fantastic” the festival gets the most revenue from walk-ups in order to be successful each year. They believe that having a rain-soaked weekend will not be beneficial for the festival, much like their event in 2016.
You can read the whole letter here: