Music Midtown festival has been forced to cancel its 2022 edition over Georgia’s gun laws, according to reports.
The festival, which takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, was set to take place in September with Jack White, Future, My Chemical Romance, and Fall Out Boy headlining.
Today (August 1), Live Nation announced that the festival was cancelled, stating that “Due to circumstances beyond our control, Music Midtown will no longer be taking place this year. We were looking forward to reuniting in September and hope we can get back to enjoying the festival together again soon.”
The statement added: “Refunds will be processed automatically within the next 24 hours to the original method of payment. Please allow 7-10 business days for the refund to be processed by your bank. For any questions related to refunds, please visit contact.frontgatetickets.com.”
While Live Nation did not give an official reason for the cancellation, sources who work with the festival confirmed to Rolling Stone that Georgia’s gun laws were responsible.
The festival takes place at Piedmont Park in Atlanta and parks are among the places in Georgia where people are allowed to carry guns.
The festival does not have the authority to enforce its own ban, with their website stating: “Weapons or explosives of any kind” are prohibited.
Atlanta-based journalist George Chidi was the first to report that the festival would be canceled due to gun laws.
“My understanding is that it is because Georgia’s gun laws make it impossible to bar firearms from Piedmont Park, a condition required by many artists’ concert riders,” he wrote on Twitter last Friday, July 29.
Music Midtown is about to be cancelled. My understanding is that it is because Georgia's gun laws make it impossible to bar firearms from Piedmont Park, a condition required by many artists' concert riders. An announcement is coming, I am told by a reliable source.#gapol
— George Chidi — The Atlanta Objective (@neonflag) July 29, 2022
According to SaportaReport, Music Midtown’s gun ban was informally challenged in May by a gun rights advocate in the state (via Rolling Stone).
While they never brought a lawsuit, they demanded that Music Midtown lift its firearm ban, according to reports.
NME has reached out to Music Midtown for comment.
The post Music Midtown festival reportedly forced to cancel over Georgia’s gun laws appeared first on NME.
