Leaders of the July festival starring The 1975 and Khalid join organizers in other Michigan cities – Muskegon, Grand Rapids, Rockford and Niles – in pulling the plug on summer celebrations.
Calling it Off: Mo Pop won’t be seeing crowds like this in 2020. (Photo/Anthony Norkus)
July 2020 was to signal a new chapter for Detroit’s Mo Pop Festival, with relocation to a new riverfront location at Historic Fort Wayne Park where headliners Khalid and The 1975 were slated to fire up thousands of fans.
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Instead, Mo Pop has become the latest casualty of COVID-19.
Disappointed organizers today announced that the July 25-26 event would be canceled “due to the ongoing uncertainty” around the pandemic and concerns about “the health and safety” of fans, staff, community, performers, crew members and vendors.
“For seven straight years, we’ve come together for a festival of joy and good times, to celebrate great music and a taste of the amazing character of this city,” the festival stated on Facebook.
“Not being able to bring it to you for Year 8 breaks our hearts, but it is the right thing to do.”
Ticket holders “who purchased passes through our official ticket provider Elevate” can transfer their passes to the 2021 event or receive a full refund, the festival announced. Get more details at mopopfestival.com.
SUMMER EVENTS IN ROCKFORD, MUSKEGON AND NILES ALSO SCRAPPED
The announcement comes the same week as several other event cancellations for summer 2020, including:
Canceling for 2020: Rockford’s Start of Summer Celebration. (Photo/Local Spins)
• The Michigan Irish Music Festival, which was set to take place Sept. 17-20 at Muskegon’s Heritage Landing but now is scrapped due to “the ever-changing uncertainty of the COVID-19 situation” and its effects on planning;
• Rockford’s Start of Summer Celebration, which was scheduled to take place in June in downtown Rockford;
• The Grand Rapids Arts Museum’s GRAM on the Green outdoor concert series, which usually hosts Thursday concerts on the museum’s terrace in July and August;
• All Niles Music and More events for summer 2020, including Thursday and Saturday concerts, July 4 Fireworks Spectacular, Hometown Reunion, Artisan Fair and End of Summer Blowout.
After several years at Detroit’s West Riverfront Park – which is slated for remodeling – the 2020 Mo Pop festival was moving to Historic Fort Wayne Park with Phoebe Bridgers, Orville Peck, Doja Cat, Still Woozy, Hippo Campus, Peach Pit, Girl in Red, Beabadoobee, Bane’s World, Beach Bunny, Dayglow, Kota the Friend, Oso Oso, Dogleg, Charity, Who Boy and Whiterosemoxie also on the two-day bill.
“This city is resilient,” the festival statement concluded. “We’ve shown this time and time again. Lift each other up. Show compassion. We’ll pull through this. We can’t wait to be together soon.”
Revisit Local Spins coverage of last year’s Mo Pop festival: The Best of Mo Pop 2019
Get updated information on Michigan music festivals in the Michigan Music Festivals 2020 Guide.
Copyright 2020, Spins on Music LLC
