Forecastle? Hello? Are you there? In the player above: First day of GAZEBO FestivalLouisville's beloved Forecastle Festival has been a loud favorite in the city for decades. But this year, it's silent. The music festival first started in 2002 as a tiny group of artists in Tyler Park. As it grew, it moved to Waterfront Park, and over the years has attracted massive acts and thousands and thousands of fans.In 2022, the branding, bill, dates and overall vibe changed a bit from previous years. After that festival, they announced they'd be taking a "pause" in 2023, saying in part, "There are some things that we want to work on and improve for the future, so we’re going to take some time to strategize and determine the best path forward for the festival."That message was posted to Facebook in November 2022. And since then, crickets. Social media and website untouched. Flash forward to February 2024, and Louisville gets wind of a new festival, GAZEBO Festival. It used the Forecastle venue space (Waterfront Park), was the same weekend as the 2022 festival (Memorial Day weekend) and was put on by a 2022 headliner (Jack Harlow). News of it had some Forecastle fans jumping back into their social media comments begging for updates. So comes the question, is Forecastle dead? Relocating? Taking another year of pause?With a new festival similar that has similarities to the most recent Forecast and another major festival in the city later in the summer, Bourbon & Beyond, that has a massive lineup filled with acts one would expect to see at older Forecastles, it's hard to imagine where and when it would fit into this year's music scene.And sometime within April or May, the website officially became defunct. WLKY has reached out to the Forecastle media contact, the C3 press team, multiple times with no response. A previous point of contact for Forecastle is now on the team for GAZEBO and referred us to C3 as well. The mayor's office said the Waterfront Park board hasn't heard anything from Forecastle this year, and as far as they know, there are no plans for one there at this point.So, in short, while hope dwindles for a festival this year, there are still no definite answers on its future. But we're still looking for them.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Forecastle? Hello? Are you there?
In the player above: First day of GAZEBO Festival
Louisville's beloved Forecastle Festival has been a loud favorite in the city for decades. But this year, it's silent.
The music festival first started in 2002 as a tiny group of artists in Tyler Park. As it grew, it moved to Waterfront Park, and over the years has attracted massive acts and thousands and thousands of fans.
In 2022, the branding, bill, dates and overall vibe changed a bit from previous years. After that festival, they announced they'd be taking a "pause" in 2023, saying in part, "There are some things that we want to work on and improve for the future, so we’re going to take some time to strategize and determine the best path forward for the festival."
That message was posted to Facebook in November 2022. And since then, crickets. Social media and website untouched.
Flash forward to February 2024, and Louisville gets wind of a new festival, GAZEBO Festival. It used the Forecastle venue space (Waterfront Park), was the same weekend as the 2022 festival (Memorial Day weekend) and was put on by a 2022 headliner (Jack Harlow).
News of it had some Forecastle fans jumping back into their social media comments begging for updates.
So comes the question, is Forecastle dead? Relocating? Taking another year of pause?
With a new festival similar that has similarities to the most recent Forecast and another major festival in the city later in the summer, Bourbon & Beyond, that has a massive lineup filled with acts one would expect to see at older Forecastles, it's hard to imagine where and when it would fit into this year's music scene.
And sometime within April or May, the website officially became defunct.
WLKY has reached out to the Forecastle media contact, the C3 press team, multiple times with no response.
A previous point of contact for Forecastle is now on the team for GAZEBO and referred us to C3 as well.
The mayor's office said the Waterfront Park board hasn't heard anything from Forecastle this year, and as far as they know, there are no plans for one there at this point.
So, in short, while hope dwindles for a festival this year, there are still no definite answers on its future. But we're still looking for them.