OKEECHOBEE COUNTY, Fla. — Since 2016, the Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival has been held on the 800 acres of Sunshine Grove just outside Okeechobee City.
With it, comes an estimated 30,000 campers, vendors and performers.
Yet this year, that's not going to be the case. Okeechobee County commissioners said the Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival will not be returning to the county in 2024, but said the company who created the festival, Soundslingers, decided to take a year off, delaying it until 2025.
"Everybody’s still trying to get over the COVID situation and trying to book events and things like that," Okeechobee County Commissioner and Chairman David Hazellief said. "They were having difficulty doing that, so they notified us that they’d like to move it to next year."
The move comes after authorities announced a 26-year-old with LSD in his system drowned in a nearby canal during the last festival in March.
Organizers released a statement after his death, reading in part:
"We are saddened by the passing of one OMF attendee. We send our deepest condolences to this individuals loved ones, friends, and all those who have been impacted by this tragic loss."
However, Hazellief said that tragedy has nothing to do with this decision.
"That was a tragic situation. It was handled," Hazellief said. "This has nothing to do with it."
Hazelief instead said organizers wanted more time to pin down more popular artists, like some of the more mainstream musicians he said performed in the festival's early years.
A statement tweeted by festival watchdog Festive Owl, and retweeted by Soundslinger reads:
“As owners and safekeepers of our beautiful land, Sunshine Grove, Soundslinger cares deeply about the community that it witnessed come together in those first few years of OMF from 2016 onwards. We are working hard to keep OMF close to its original roots in a big way and reignite the sparks. Those formative years were special to all of us. Hang tight and remember to always Be, Here, Now.”
Yet Okeechobee Mayor Dowling Watford said if the festival's absent, the millions of dollars it brings to the city every year will be too.
"It brings in thousands of people, 30,000 or so, it's a good economic boom," he said, "all the hotels are full, restaurants, all the stores."
One of those businesses to suffer will be Okee Pokee, whose business boomed during last year's festival.
"It was definitely a 20 to 30% increase for us. A lot of music people in the event coming in here for food, people passing through," Derek Fell, the restaurant's owner, said. "I'm disappointed."
Still both Watford and Fell said they're staying positive and said because the festival will return at some point, it's disappointing but not devastating.
"We're excited that they will be back. Hopefully," Watford said.
"They supported us, I went out there and tried to support them, I enjoyed myself and thought it was good for the town overall," added Fell.
Hazellief also said he and other commissioners have sat down to talk to the creators of the event to discuss safety procedures in an effort to make sure what happened last year doesn't happen again.
WPTV contacted Soundslinger for comment. NewsChannel 5 was told someone would get back but at this point, the station still has not heard back.
