The City Of Plano Landed A Critical Blow On The Hopes Of The Pop-Up Music Festival Scheduled For Less Than A Month From Now.
After yesterday’s news that Starfest Music Festival’s organizers were being sued for allegedly failing to pay almost $100,000 in commission, it started to become clear that not all was well over at Starfest HQ.
But now the organizers have another fire to put out: Today, they’ve lost their venue.
The City of Plano issued a press release this morning stating that it had terminated its contract with Starfest for the use of Oak Point Park & Nature Preserve on September 8 and 9.
Full text below:
City of Plano Statement: Starfest Contract Terminated
The City of Plano has decided to terminate our contract with the promoters of the Starfest Music Festival, planned for September 8-9 at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve. We believe the cancellation of this contract is in the best interest of the City and our community.
City of Plano media relations director Steve Stoler says the festival was set to use the same patch of land at Oak Point Park as the Plano Balloon Festival, which includes an amphitheater.
“We notified them late yesterday afternoon that they failed to comply with the terms of the agreement,” Stoler says, adding that he couldn’t really elaborate on what those terms were.
Since its announcement, Starfest has been the subject of ridicule online for its secret lineup, high ticket prices and odd social media presence. At this point, the odds of it actually taking place seem slim.
We will update this article as we learn more.
Update at 3:50 p.m.: In an interview with Guidelive this morning, festival co-organizer David Taylor has acknowledged that Plano has terminated its agreement with Starfest due to what it is arguing to be a breach of contract involving not giving the city a 48-hour notice on headliners before making announcements. But, regardless, Plano seems out as a potential home for this fest.
And yet, in a new tweet, Starfest says it’s going to go on still.
As they say, the show must go on ☄️?
— STARFEST (@starfestmusic) August 17, 2017
But where? At this point, no one knows — and no one at Starfest is talking. Requests today for comment on a new possible destination for the festival have been declined.
To its credit, Starfest is still going about its business, announcing more acts. Today, the festival says it has added rapper Machine Gun Kelly to its lineup.
One thing, though: Though Starfest says it has added Machine Gun Kelly to its lineup, he has yet to reciprocate the matter. In fact, out of everyone listed on Starfest’s website as a performer at its September event, only Carnage currently lists the event in his own calendar of upcoming gigs.