Organizers of the Gilbert Folk Festival have pulled the plug on this year's event.
In a news release posted to the event's Facebook page on Thursday, organizers said with 10 days until the event, town officials required "additional permits never required in the past and that it would not honor previously contracted rates for space at what was the St. Xavier Building."
Event officials said to hold the event they would either have to pay more money or cut the event's programming by half.
"Organizers have decided to cancel the event out of respect for the sponsors who were no longer guaranteed the advertising exposure they paid for," the event said. They are now contacting those sponsors and artists to offer refunds.
The Town of Gilbert provided this statement to ABC15 on Friday:
"As Gilbert has recently transitioned the operations of the University Building we have been honoring existing reservations in the building with the information that is available. When we were informed about the cancelation, we encouraged the Gilbert Folk Festival promoters to continue with the event as scheduled and extended resources to assist.
We have offered to partner with the Gilbert Folk Festival on next year’s event to help it surpass all community expectations. The Gilbert Folk Festival has been extremely successful and has shown growth. As it grows, the impact to resources grows as well; by working together through our processes we can ensure continued success."
The festival said the owner of Bergies Coffee Roast House has offered to host the originally scheduled artists at his outdoor stage from 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Feb. 18, the day the festival was to take place, the festival said.
Bergies' address is 309 N. Gilbert Road, Gilbert AZ.
You can read the festival's full statement below:
Editor's note: This article has been updated from its original version to include a statement from the Town of Gilbert.
