Bobby’s Bash Scrapped

The organizers of a free county music festival dubbed “Bobby’s Birthday Bash” have canceled the event at Mesa County Fairgrounds near Grand Junction, Colo.

County spokeswoman Jessica Peterson to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel that festival reps notified the county May 26 that they’ve pulled the plug on the event, which was scheduled June 23-25.

The cancellation comes three days after festival producer Bobby Willis missed the deadline to pay the county $175,000 in fees and deposits for the show to take place.

Attorneys for Willis sent a letter to county officials canceling the event, giving no explanation. However, payments due for permits and a license were three days overdue at the time the letter was sent, and the event had already been forced to scale back.

Complicating matters is the fact that another festival, the Country Jam in nearby Mack, Colo., was scheduled the same weekend. But apparently Willis hasn’t given up on the idea of a birthday bash, albeit a belated one, according to the event’s website.

“Bobby’s Birthday Bash is moving to a new home,” reads a revised website. “Please visit us for updates. Thank you for your continued support.” No hints of when or where that might be were offered.

The festival lineup included Roy Clark, David Frizzell, Johnny Lee, T.G. Sheppard, Jett Williams, Bobby Bare, Bellamy Brothers, John Conlee, Moe Bandy, Katrina Elam, Sammy Kershaw, John Michael Montgomery, Don Williams, Darryl Worley and many others.