Wheatland Music Festival Canceled Again This Year

For the second year in a row, Wheatland Music Festival in Remus, Mich., won't happen.

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Canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, organizers announced the cancelation of the 2021 Wheatland Music Festival to Facebook on Wednesday with "sadness and great regret":

The WMO Board was hugely excited about putting on a great Festival this year. After all these months, we needed it as much as many of you. Nonetheless, our fiduciary duty to the Organization required that it must be done safely, or not at all. We considered every option, but in the end, concluded that the necessary measures would be practically unmanageable and ultimately incompatible with Wheatland’s organizational values.

The festival, which dates back to 1974, had been set to happen September 10-12, 2021. The lineup included Foghorn Stringband, Blue Highway, Racines, Joe Louis Walker, The Sweet Water Warblers, Eileen Jewel, Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys, Dirk Powell, and more.

The Wheatland Music Organization (WMO) had just held volunteer training and a vaccine clinic Aug. 7.

WMO Executive director Lola Tyler told Local Spins,

We have been monitoring the numbers for several weeks and they have continued to grow. In recent days, the risk of community spread has risen from low-moderate to significant-high in those regions of Michigan and neighboring states from which most of Wheatland’s attendees come.

According to the CDC Covid-19 Data Tracker Website, the county in which the festival takes place, Mecosta County, is ranked as "moderate" risk. However, the risk in neighboring counties Newayo and Montcalm, and nearby Kent, Ottawa, and Muskegon counties are considered "substantial".

Wheatland Music Festival organizers say information on ticket refunds/ rollovers and the status of other events will be shared soon. Follow Wheatland Music Festival on Facebook for updates.