Firewater Music Festival Pushed To 2021

Whiskey Myers today informed fans that its inaugural Firewater Music Festival is being pushed to 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the outdoor camping festival to be held just south of Kansas City went on sale in June the band and promoter Borda Productions were optimistic that the pandemic would be brought under control and their event would be able to stage with high standards of safety Oct. 1-3. 

\Nationwide there was a massive growth in the number of cases in the month of July, however, and organizers have decided it is no longer possible to safely proceed in 2020. 

“For the last four months, we’ve navigated the rollercoaster of information and emotional ups and downs of this terrible pandemic,” a statement from Whiskey Myers and the Firewater Team reads. “Guided by experts in public health and safety, we chose to keep moving forward in hopes the situation would improve. However, as we continue to face uncertainties, we will not take a risk with the safety of the people who matter the most to us; our families and our fans. With broken hearts and sad souls, we must announce Firewater 2020 will be postponed to September 30 – October 2, 2021.”

Tickets for the 2020 edition will automatically be rolled over to 2021 and fans who want their tickets refunded can claim them from Aug. 13 to Sept. 13. A “majority” of the 2020 lineup – which included Drive-By Truckers, Whitey Morgan, Ray Wylie Hubbard, The Steel Woods and more – is being preserved for the 2021 edition.

Whiskey Myers frontman Cody Cannon and the group’s manager Eddie Kloesel of Triple 8 Management spoke to Pollstar in June. Cannon explained the decision to go on sale in the midst of the pandemic, before the numbers spiked in July, saying: “We had to make a decision. If we were going to be able to do it this year, we were going to need to put the tickets on sale now [in June], so we’ll see what happens.” 

“[Of course] we’re going to go with whatever the government says and what everyone feels is safe. We’re not trying to put anyone in harm’s way.”

With Firewater postponed and virtually all major gatherings in North America called off for 2020, this means the last large-scale event of the year may be the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally currently being held in South Dakota.