Nearly four months after the event took place, Blue Ridge Rock Festival has issued a new statement explaining their silence on its “partial cancellation.”
The 2023 installment of Blue Ridge Rock Festival was scheduled to take place from Sept. 7 through 10 in Alton, Virginia. During the first night, a sudden evacuation was called due to a severe storm that rolled through the area, but a shortage of shuttle buses inhibited many festivalgoers from being able to seek shelter safely. The second day of the festival went on without any weather interruptions, but there were still many other issues reported.
Electric Callboy tour manager Ian Roberts made a detailed video documenting his experience on his YouTube Channel, Tank the Tech, and he described the catering as “non-existent,” noted a lack of water and air conditioning in the band’s dressing room and said that much of the staff at the festival seemed to have no idea what was going on due to a lack of communication.
Partly through the third day of the festival (Sept. 9), the organizers announced that the rest of the day and the entire next day were canceled due to weather reports. As a result, the festival became one of the most buzzworthy topics in rock and metal in September, but the organizers only shared very vague statements in response to what had happened. Now, nearly four months later, they’ve released a new statement explaining why they haven’t been able to go into detail about what happened.
“We are extremely sorry for the delay in providing a clear resolution for 2023’s partial cancellation. We know that frustrations are continuing to compound, and fans deserve more communication and information from us. It has pained us immensely that we have not been permitted to do so thus far. For the first time, we have recently been given permission to issue this more complete statement,” they wrote in a post on social media.
According to their post, the festival’s insurance policy prohibits them from discussing the details of what happened until their claim is settled, which they expect to happen during the first quarter of 2024 or shortly after.
“This is the reason we have largely been silent. It has been incredibly difficult to not publicize evidence to refute many of the reports surrounding the Festival. However, we are unwilling to jeopardize the recovery of the policy for you the fans, prejudice our rights, or prejudice the insurance carriers’ rights. We eagerly await the moment when we can provide full transparency.
“The unanticipated, sudden, and extraordinary storms, which put fans, crews, bands, and the event in grave danger were incredibly unfortunate. The damage caused by these storms has yet to be fully revealed,” they continued, reiterating that they “will address everything in full” once the claim is settled and they have the freedom to do so.
READ MORE: Photos + Video – Fans Document Disastrous 2023 Blue Ridge Rock Festival
“We fully understand the animosity that many of you have towards this situation. There is so much more to this story than what has come to light,” the beginning of the final paragraph reads.
Read the full post below.
Over 150 artists were scheduled to play this year’s Blue Ridge Rock Festival, making it one of the biggest rock and metal festivals on U.S. soil. Stay tuned for their full statement in the next few months, and whether they make any changes to the event for 2024.
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Gallery Credit: Philip Trapp