FYF Fest Canceled Following Organizers’ ‘Difficult Decision’

Organizers announced Sunday that this year’s FYF Fest in Los Angeles has been cancelled. The long-running music festival, which was set to celebrate its 15th anniversary on July 21st and 22nd, had booked Florence and the Machine, Janet Jackson and My Bloody Valentine for this year’s lineup.

“After much consideration, we have made the difficult decision to cancel FYF Fest 2018,” organizers wrote on Instagram. “Our team of many women and men have worked tirelessly on this event for many years but felt unable to present an experience on par with the expectations of our loyal fans and the Los Angeles music community this year.”

Organizers also promised to announce “some special local shows” involving artists from the 2018 FYF Fest lineup in the near future.

While no concrete reason for the cancellation was provided, Billboard – which first learned of the festival’s impending cancellation – cited low ticket sales. It’s unclear whether FYF Fest will return in the future.

St. Vincent, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Car Seat Headrest, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks and more were also booked for this year’s FYF Fest, the first without creator Sean Carlson at the helm; Carlson stepped away from the festival in 2017 following accusations of sexual harassment.

Goldenvoice booker Jennifer Yacoubian took over the reins, recruiting a lineup powered by female artists. “With incredible artists like Janet Jackson and Florence + The Machine topping this year’s bill, we are so psyched to have two badass women leading the roster as we head into FYF Fest 2018,” Yacoubain said in a statement in March.

A post shared by FYF Fest (@fyffest) on May 6, 2018 at 11:24am PDT