After late-evening rumours turned to late-night reports, Roxodus Music Fest officially announced the cancellation of the 2019 rock festival on Wednesday morning.
The story had already been broken online, with radio news station AM 640 reporting the plug pulling via tweet. And by this morning there were stories from iheartradio, local rock stations, and community newspapers.
Organizers confirm the #Roxodus music festival has been cancelled. They say the Edenvale Airport grounds received too much rain, making the event 'unfeasible.' No word on whether or not refunds will be issued.
- 640 Toronto (@am640) July 3, 2019
The official word from Roxodus and MF Live Inc. is that the rainfall throughout the spring created an infeasibility to use the Edenvale Airport site for the festival. We haven't looked at the rain charts, but we can understand that reasoning. Safety of stages is paramount for performers, fans, and people working behind-the-scenes.
orilliamatters.com posted a story on Wednesday morning that included a quote from Mikey Cuthbertson at production company Music21, who had been hired to take care of one of the Roxodus stages. "That much equipment would take a while and I've seen it done, not quite for something this size, but it can be done with the right crew," said Cuthbertson. "Again, I can only speak to what I know and my experience with events is if it wasn't going to happen, big bands like Aerosmith wouldn't allow for their name to be used. Stranger things have happened but on our end, it's business as usual."
With the rain and grounds conditions explanation given, rumours of ticket sales being a concern for organizers have not gone away. According to reports a month ago, the festival had sold approximately 20,000 passes (we're assuming this includes both single day and full weekend sales) to see acts including Aerosmith, Nickelback, Kid Rock, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. That's more people than Budweiser Stage, but fewer than Boots & Hearts (by half), and about the same as what we saw in the last year of WayHome.
While there were rumours and reports that the MF Live Inc. team had been in contact with Burl's Creek Event Grounds as a replacement venue, time seems to be too short to make it happen. Special permits, planning, etc. would have to be done in a week (at this point) to continue with the festival. We love that spot, it would have been great if it had worked out as needed, but sadly, it didn't.
This is a real bummer for a lot of reasons. Personally, we were looking forward to seeing, photographing, and covering the aforementioned headliners as well as supporting acts like Alice Cooper, Blondie, Billy Idol, Lee Aaron, Collective Soul, and more. We know that thousands of fans spent a lot of money on travel, accommodations, and passes. They took time off work, used vacation days, and made this a big part of their summer plans. It sucks that it's gone for them. It also sucks for the vendors, food truck operators. These employees that were ready to come in and work for four days and make some summer cash. And it sucks for the bands who book their summers months and months in advance, plan to travel, play for loud and rowdy fans, and have a good time doing what they love. There are no winners here.
We are saddened by the announcement and outcome. We understand the frustration that will come with it, and especially with the timing.
Currently the Roxodus website has been transformed into a landing page with an announcement about the cancellation and pending refund information. See the screen-capture image below.
Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
Roxodus Music Fest Cancellation Press Release
Due to heavy rains in the Spring of 2019 the property at Edenvale Airport, Clearview Township will not be ready in time to accommodate large crowds and performance stages for the Roxodus Music Festival that was scheduled for July 11 - July 14, 2019.
"It is with a heavy heart that we announce the cancellation of Roxodus Music Festival this year." said Fab Loranger, Principal at MF Live Inc. "Our team has worked tirelessly to find a solution in which the show can go on but unfortunately we could not make it happen this year. Our dream of producing a 'once in a lifetime experience' has been put on hold as we take the time to nurture our venue. We sincerely thank all of our artists, sponsors, partners, and neighbours who have supported us from the very beginning. The embrace from our community has meant the world to us and we hope to one day see our dream come to life."
Producers of the Festival wish to thank the community and Township of Clearview for its tremendous support over the past year.
Information about ticket refunds will be released shortly.
