On Tuesday, February 3rd, the organizers of the 2009 Langerado Music Festival, the seventh version of the annual fest scheduled to take place March 6-8 at Miami’s Bicentennial Park, sadly announced that the event has been cancelled due to “sluggish ticket sales.”
Last year, the event was held at Big Cypress Indian Reservation in Florida’s Everglades, which was host to Phish’s Millenium New Year’s Eve concert eight years ago. The festival has grown significantly since its debut in 2003. Similar to Bonnaroo in its early years, Langerado mainly focused on jam bands but has recently branched out to include a wider variety of acts, although jam-band-leaning artists, including the Disco Biscuits, Umphrey’s McGee and Robert Randolph and the Family Band, will be performing.

This year’s lineup included big names and an eclectic collection of supporting acts. Headlining the festival were Snoop Dogg and Death Cab for Cutie. But the festival was also slated to include Dashboard Confessional, Gym Class Heroes, Girl Talk, Chromeo, Tokyo Police Club, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Thievery Corporation, Slightly Stoopid, Flogging Molly, Broken Social Scene, Cold War Kids, Mute Math, Black Kids, the Faint, the Pogues, Zac Brown Band, Michael Franti & Spearhead, the Virgins and more.
Sadly, Langerado is one of the first of many festivals that will either be canceled or postponed due to the current economy. British Columbia’s Pemberton Festival also announced plans to take 2009 off to focus on their 2010 fest.

According to mtv.com, the co-promoter Ethan Schwartz said, “Langerado has always put the fan experience first. Unfortunately, during these difficult economic times, and facing a first year in a new venue, it’s become apparent that we cannot execute a production that lives up to the high standards of our past events. Putting Langerado on hold was the toughest decision we have ever had to make. We are very grateful for the support of the greater-Miami community and the music community during this difficult time.”
The statement said that the festival’s promoters cancelled the 2009 event only after every possible option was exhausted.

The statement also noted that all tickets purchased would be refunded and processed within the next 5-7 business days. Each order will be refunded to the credit card in full, minus the included order processing fees. Shipping fees will also be credited for those orders that did not select the free shipping promotion.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 5:13 am and is filed under News.