Music Midtown Canceled, Possibly Due to Georgia Gun Laws – WABE

This story will be updated.

Music Midtown is officially canceled for 2022.

The festival released a statement on Monday morning, saying the event would not go ahead as planned and a refund would soon be possible.

According to Rolling Stone, the reason for the cancellation may be Georgia gun laws and the festival’s inability to ban firearms at the event.

Notably, a 2019 court ruling on Georgia’s Safe Carry Protection Act, which said companies and groups with long-term leases on state-owned land could ban guns by law, but companies with shorter leases — like Music Midtown — could not.

“Public policies have real implications, and in this case economic and social implications, on a great tradition,” Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman said on Twitter.

“It is a great loss to our community that Music Midtown is not happening this year,” said William Pate, President and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This festival has been an Atlanta tradition for decades and has brought great memories to visitors and residents alike.”

Requests for comment to Live Nation and C3 Presents have not yet been responded to. Gov. Kemp’s office has declined to comment on this article.

Atlanta’s annual hip-hop/R&B One Music Festival also informed WABE that it had no comment on the cancellation of Music Midtown and its possible connection to Georgia gun laws and the festival’s inability to keep guns out. One Music takes place in Central Park this October.