Unfortunate news out of Arrington, VA, home to the superb LOCKN’ Festival. Severe weather has been rolling through the area this evening, and organizers have been forced to cancel Thursday’s schedule of bands which included Moogatu, Deer Tick, Strangefolk, Soulive, Little Feat, Billy & The Kids featuring the Grateful Dead’s Bill Kreutzmann, The Doobie Incident, featuring the Doobie Brothers collaborating with the String Cheese Incident and late night sets from the Dead’s Mickey Hart with EOTO and Steve Kimock as well as Galactic on the Blue Ridge Bowl stage.
Here’s the message LOCKN’ posted to their Facebook just a little over an hour ago:
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE LOCKN’ ORGANIZERS: Opening of Campgrounds Delayed Until Further Notice and Thursday Performances Cancelled
Earlier this evening, a severe thunderstorm with high winds passed over Lockn’ and caused damage to the festival grounds, particularly the parking and campground area. The good news is that no one was injured and the entire team is focused on cleaning up and preparing for a great festival. The unfortunate news is that we will be forced to delay the opening of the campgrounds and cancel Thursday’s performances in order to give the team the time necessary to make sure the festival grounds are safe for both our guests and our artists.
Despite the inconvenience the storm has caused, we count ourselves lucky that everyone is safe and that we have three great days of music ahead of us. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Stay tuned for new campgrounds opening times and other updates.
Our own reporter on the ground, Sarah Bourque, commented on the situation. “It’s totally chaotic. I saw a tent fly into a wooden fence post and break it in half! The grounds are too muddy to let production trucks in. People are being shuffled to a local grocery store instead of waiting on the grounds in line because of the mud.”
We’re hoping everyone stays safe during this crazy weather.