The 2021 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival has announced its cancellation due to flooding as a result of Hurricane Ida.
The festival was to be held in Manchester, Tennessee this week (September 2 to 5), with headliners Foo Fighters, Megan Thee Stallion, Tame Impala, and more.
Bonnaroo revealed the news last night (August 31) on social media. Its team revealed that while the weather forecast for the weekend looks “outstanding”, critical preparations for the festival at its venue Centeroo had been obstructed by flooding.
“Centeroo is waterlogged in many areas, the ground is incredibly saturated on our tollbooth paths, and the campgrounds are flooded to the point that we are unable to drive in or park vehicles safely,” the festival wrote.
“We have done everything in our power to try to keep the show moving forward, but Mother Nature has dealt us a tremendous amount of rain over the past 24 hours, and we have run out of options to try to make the event happen safely and in a way that lives up to the Bonnaroo experience.”
Bonnaroo have also revealed that the festival will return in June 2022, which will mark its 20th anniversary. Bonnaroo has historically been held in the month of June since 2002. However, the pandemic curtailed plans in 2020 and the festival pushed its 2021 edition to September this year.
Hurricane Ida made landfall on Sunday as a Category 4 hurricane, and has since left over a million residents of the United States’ Gulf Coast without power, possibly for weeks. The death toll of the tropical storm has risen to four so far.
Acts booked for Bonnaroo this year also included headliners Lizzo, Tyler, The Creator, and Lana Del Rey. Lizzo responded to the cancellation in a post to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday: “Honored to be your first female headliner @bonnaroo,” she wrote. “Take care of yourselves everyone who is in the path of the storm. Safety first.”
Synth-pop duo Sylvan Esso were scheduled to perform on Saturday (September 4) in a special Bonnaroo Superjam set, where the duo were planning to expand to a 10-piece band with a setlist of specially reimagined songs.
The duo expressed shock on Twitter following the news with two words: “Well fuck”. Band member Nick Sanborn reiterated disappointment on his own timeline. “You have got to be kidding me,” he tweeted.
Well fuck
— Sylvan Esso (@SylvanEsso) August 31, 2021
you have got to be kidding me
— Nick Sanborn (@MADEOFOAK) August 31, 2021
Other acts scheduled for the festival, including Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Run The Jewels, Incubus and Khruangbin, also shared their disappointment on social media. See their reactions below.
— Run The Jewels (@runjewels) August 31, 2021
I’m sorry y’all had to make this choice but I believe it was the right one. I was really REALLY looking forward to it, but ya gotta be safe and smart. Love to everybody on the crew with a broken heart today. https://t.co/Ft3NIVytLd
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) August 31, 2021
Devastated @Bonnaroo
Our hearts go out to everyone swallowing the loss of a beautiful festival.
Love y'all. pic.twitter.com/LFhLRmmIdU
— Khruangbin (@Khruangbin) August 31, 2021
— Incubus (@IncubusBand) August 31, 2021
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