Midtown Festival, May 2002. Photo by Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images.
The Music Midtown Festival will no longer take place this September, according to a statement posted on Monday by the event's organizers. The message only alluded to "circumstances beyond our control" for the cancellation, but a Billboard report claims the "likely cause" is Georgia's gun laws, which make it illegal for Music Midtown to bar attendees from bringing guns onto publically owned land like the festival grounds of Piedmont Park.
Georgia's "Safe Carry Protection Act" was passed in 2014 and allowed citizens of the state to bring guns into places like schools, churches, and bars. It was expanded in a 2019 court ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court. While certain businesses on public land with "long-term leases" are allowed to ban guns, brief events like Music Midtown are not.
The Georgia Supreme Court ruling would have allowed gun owners who were denied entry to the festival over their firearms to sue the event. Billboard reports that in the lead-up to the festival, Midtown was assailed on social media with legal threats by pro-gun groups and their supporters.
The FADER has reached out to Music Midtown for more information.