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Bonnaroo cancels 2027 festival after rocky years — keeps comeback hopes alive

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Michael McCarthy via Flickr
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival announced that it will be canceled in 2027, hoping to return in 2028.
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Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is cancelled for 2027.

The beloved music festival ran into some bad luck in the past couple of years. In 2025 they had to cancel mid-festival because of torrential rains. And last year, even with improved drainage and new roadways and grass, heavy storms caused delays and evacuations.  

 

Organizers said the festival needs a year off. And in an honest assessment online, organizers said that the festival market has changed substantially over the past decade, especially for camping festivals like Bonnaroo. And it’s been difficult to get people to buy into the camping culture and experience.  

They said that they hope to come back in 2028.

Bonnaroo isn’t the only Tennessee music festival to cancel and regroup in recent years. Pilgrimage Music & Culture Festival canceled this year’s fest and teased a return in 2027.  Earlier this summer, EDM festival Deep Tropics announced that it would be canceling its ninth annual festival in Nashville, citing funding issues. And in 2023, Live on the Green, Nashville’s free outdoor concert series canceled the series completely, saying that expenses outpaced revenue.

Justin Barney, Music and Culture Reporter

Hi, I’m Justin. I was born in Milwaukee, WI. I started as an intern at 88Nine Radio Milwaukee and worked my way up to Music Director. There I started a segment called “From the Music Desk” where I interviewed over 500 artists including Thom York, Lizzo, Steve Martin, and Phoebe Bridgers. At 88nine I also got to speak passionately about the music I love on the radio, which is a true gift and I still get to do every day. There I also made a podcast called “Backspin: The Search for Milwaukee’s First Hip-Hop Song” which I enjoyed doing more than anything else I’ve ever done and was acclaimed in The New York Times. Highlight of my life. I love music, I love people and I love a good yarn. At the end of the day my goal is to tell stories that are as good as the ones my dad tells me. I’ll tell em on the radio, in print, or next to you at the corner bar.

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