Atlanta’s Shaky Beats Electronic Fest Off For 2020 While Country Fest Shaky Boots Returns

– Shaky BeatsShaky Beats Music Festival will not return in 2020.

Shaky Beats Music Festival, the Atlanta-based, electronic-themed sister festival of Shaky Knees, will not return in 2020. However, the country-oriented Shaky Boots festival will return to the city’s Central Park May 8-9.

“We would like to thank all of the fans who attended, celebrated, and danced with us at Skaky Beats over the last few years,” a statement posted to Shaky Knees’ website read. 

C3’s Tim Sweetwood launched Shaky Beats in 2016 as an electronic-focused counterpart to Shaky Knees, which was launched in 2013. Shaky Boots, a country-themed iteration, took place for one year in 2015; organizers announced that the festival will return in 2020 and “deliver a reimagined Southern country festival true to its roots with a modern edge.”

The 2019 edition of Shaky Beats, headlined by Martin Garrix and Rüfüs Du Sol in May, already indicated the festival was scaling back, with the festival moving from the three-day format it had used for its first three years to a two-day format.  During its run, Shaky Beats hosted major EDM headliners including Major Lazer, Odesza, The Chainsmokers, Kaskade, Kygo, Marshmello and Zedd.

The flagship Shaky Knees 2020 has been announced for May 1-3 also at Atlanta’s Central Park. 

Though Shaky Beats won’t return in 2020, the news doesn’t necessarily mark the permanent end of the festival. Okeechobee returns in 2020 after taking a year off, and events such as Levitation in Austin have also returned after a single-year hiatus. 

– Shaky Boots 2020

Sweetwood, meanwhile, continues to launch other festival ventures. Exit 111, held at the same Tennessee site as Bonnaroo, hosted its inaugural event Oct. 11-13, with headliners Lynyrd Skynyrd, Def Leppard and Guns N’ Roses.

“There’s not a lot of spots left to create another Lollapalooza, Coachella, Austin City Limits or anything like that,” the talent buyer told Pollstar last month. “What’s not saturated is the small to medium route – the 15,000 to 40,000 range. That’s a lot of what I’m trying to build with these. From a business standpoint they’re a little more feasible to grow and execute quickly, and they’re not as risky out of the gate, either, because it doesn’t cost $20 million to produce them.”  

Sweetwood, who has also developed the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park, N.J., and Innings Festival in Tempe, Ariz., added that Exit 111 sold 20K tickets per day in its first year.