St. Louis’ LouFest was scheduled to take place this upcoming weekend on 9/8 and 9/9, but the festival has been cancelled. In a statement from fest organizers Listen Live Entertainment, they say that the festival had “several financial hurdles” that set them back, including “unfortunately timed media coverage” tied to the festival’s lack of funds that caused vendors to demand payment up-front. The letter also cites “the fickle St. Louis weather” that might impact walk-up ticket sales.

Refunds will be issued to ticket holders, with a twist: “Although we don’t currently have the funds to issue refunds, 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 or debts,” the letter reads.

Refund info can be found here.

This year’s lineup included Robert Plant And The Sensational Space Shifters, Modest Mouse, the Head And The Heart, Kacey Musgraves, Gary Clark Jr., and more.

Here’s the letter in full:

Dear St. Louis,

We are sad to announce that LouFest 2018 has been cancelled. We know this is a great disappointment to many and that there has been wide speculation around our event. We want to share what’s been going on directly with you.

First, and as is usually the case when things like this happen, LouFest had several financial hurdles. The loss of two of the event’s top sponsors, scheduling and contract issues with major artists, and existing debt from previous events have all put immense pressure on the balance sheet.

Overcoming those setbacks while trying to grow the Fest has been a challenge, one that LouFest was on target to meet until a bit of unfortunately timed media coverage caused many of our vendors and artists to demand up-front payment just days before gates were set to open. LouFest simply couldn’t make that happen.

Second, the fickle St. Louis weather has made us extremely nervous. 2018 pre-sale ticket volume has been fantastic but the festival does rely on walkups to be financially successful. We know first-hand that a rain-soaked weekend like our event experienced in 2016 would both kill that traffic and do physical harm to Forest Park. We feel it would be irresponsible to continue to invest in an event that might not be able to realize its exceptional potential.

Although we don’t currently have the funds to issue refunds, 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.

We want to recognize the sponsors, vendors, partners, and fantastic team members who have been working around the clock in support of LouFest 2018. Producing this event has been a labor of love for our family and the staff – we see it as our gift to our music-loving city.

It has been thrilling to bring so much joy to fans, recognition to St. Louis, a spotlight to its artists, and an estimated $8 million in revenue to the region each year. For that, we will always be proud.

Mike Van Hee – Managing Partner
Listen Live Entertainment