The 2021 music festival season was a halting restart from the pandemic, with many festivals choosing to cancel for a second consecutive year and others scaling way back. For example, the Lockn Farm “experiment”, which appears to have been the end of Lockn. Despite the weather issues and the low attendance, I had a great time at the two Lockn Farm weekends I attended – JRAD and Tedeschi Trucks. I probably should have gone to the Fred Festival weekend but that was just too much driving in such a short period of time. But I did see Goose three times in 2022 and I’m on pace to see them six times this year (starting with Daze Between), plus one performance by Orebolo (Northlands, their first festival performance since the Fred according to Peter A.).
The 2022 music festival season was more complete but also included make-up dates, for example, Oysterhead fulfilling 2020/2021 commitments to Sweetwater 420 (and to The Peach in 2021). Perhaps the most extreme example was the many acts who played both The Peach and High Sierra over the same weekend (JRAD, Goose, Andy Frasco, Samantha Fish, etc.). Travel arrangements must have been a nightmare since neither Scranton (The Peach) nor Quincy (High Sierra) are near major airports.
The 2023 music festival season appears to be a transition from the pre-pandemic to the post-pandemic environment. Some festivals did not come back (Sacred Rose), some are taking at least this year off (FloydFest), some are ending this year (Resonance, which was rescheduled from last October), some took place but said they will be changing their format in the future (Summer Camp), and at least one new festival launched with great fanfare but canceled within a few weeks of the lineup announcement (Echoland). But others are staying the course, such as Bonnaroo, The Peach, High Sierra, ACL, Hulaween, etc.
The artist tug of war between corporate (LiveNation) and private festivals is still an issue. I certainly hope that the private festivals such as High Sierra survive; LiveNation appears to be trying to cripple that festival by moving The Peach from mid-July to the same Fourth of July weekend as High Sierra.
As I mentioned in a previous post, festivals in Atlanta are still working their way around the threat of lawsuits over allowing guns in public parks, even at private events. Sweetwater 420 scaled way back from a four-day festival in Centennial Park to a two-day festival at the brewery (private property), and Candler Park announced it would no longer continue. However, Shaky Knees was held in Central Park in May with no guns allowed and Music Midtown is scheduled to resume in Piedmont Park in September, also with no guns allowed, after canceling at the last minute in 2022. No lawsuits so far against these festivals. So maybe Sweetwater 420 can return to Centennial Park in 2024.