Hometown Rising 2020 Canceled Due to Coronavirus Concerns: ‘We Are Truly Heartbroken’
The 2020 Hometown Rising Country Music and Bourbon Festival that was slated to take place in Kentucky in September has been canceled entirely due to the continuing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, along with two partner festivals, Bourbon and Beyond and Louder Than Life.
Hometown Rising was set to take place Sept. 12 and 13 at Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center in Louisville, Ky., and while that's still quite a while from now, organizers decided to plug after talking to health officials and due to the "advanced planning realities of producing three back-to-back-to-back events," they say in a statement on Friday (April 24) announcing the decision.
Festival organizers are "working really hard to bring as much of our 2020 lineups back to 2021," they state, adding that they are offering full refunds to all of the fans who have been affected. "All purchasers will be notified of how the refund process will work early next week."
"We are truly heartbroken it has come to this," the statement continues. "We want to thank you for your patience, support and loyalty. We hope you are staying safe as well as physically and mentally well. We are blessed to have such an amazing Festival Family, and together, as a community, we will get through this."
Hometown Rising was the first festival of its kind when it debuted in 2019, drawing more than 70,000 fans to partake in bourbon and see headliners including Tim McGraw, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan and Keith Urban.
Carrie Underwood and Blake Shelton were set to headline Hometown Rising in 2020, with Dierks Bentley, Old Dominion and more among the artists also slated to appear.
The cancellation is the latest in a long series of postponed and canceled festivals and tours in light of the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen live entertainment events across the world grind to a virtual standstill.
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