UPDATE (8:05 a.m.)
Organizers emailed the following statement this morning:
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.
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ORIGINAL STORY (7:30 a.m.)
It may not exactly be the day the music died, but the Roxodus festival appears to be dead before it got off the ground.
While event officials have not confirmed the event's demise, Toronto's 640 News said it has confirmed the massive music festival has been cancelled. They reported organizers told them the event was "unfeasible" due to rain that made the grounds too wet.
Rumours had been circulating since Sunday that organizers involved with the huge rock festival were having issues and tried at one point to move the entire four-day event to Burl's Creek.
However, that did not happen, which means the festival, that was set for July 11 to July 14 at the Edenvale Aerodrome has been cancelled.
Mikey Cuthbertson of the production company Music21 said he had heard the rumours.
“Yeah, I heard that they were trying to move it to Burl’s Creek because the grounds at the airport weren’t good for what they wanted, but I don’t know how much truth there is to that,” said Cuthbertson.
Music21 is an Ontario-based production company that was going to take care of one of the stages for the weekend for a show that was going to feature big acts like Aerosmith, Kid Rock, Nickelback, Alice Cooper and many more.
Cuthbertson said Tuesday that even though there were 16 flatbed trailers in the parking lot outside the grounds, he felt it wasn't too late to get started on set-up if the concert forged ahead.
“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, its business as usual.”
Less than 24 hours later, Roxodus was cancelled.
Shari Carpenter said she purchased tickets and has been excited since late last year about the festival.
“We spent about $1,400 on VIP tickets, $200 for campsite plus $700 for a non-refundable hotel room in Wasaga Beach and $200 for the shuttle bus pass, took four days off of work and bought a new tent,” said Carpenter. “We have been excited about it since we bought the tickets in December.”
No official announcement has been made. It's not clear what might happen to people who purchased tickets.
