Tundra Music Festival canceled

Anticipated to be the largest outdoor event in IU history, the Tundra Music Festival has been postponed.

After looking at the weather reports for the week, it was in the best interest of the students and organizations involved to postpone the event, said Russell Markus, co-founder of Tundra Music Festival and operations officer of the Fifth Agency, a talent and event production company.

Markus said a major contributor to the weather concerns was the flood warning he said had been issued. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for several south-central Indiana counties, including Monroe County, from Thursday afternoon to Friday afternoon.

Due to the weather problems, had the festival occurred it would not be the same as planned, he said.

“When the event does happen we want it to be exactly what was envisioned,” Markus said.

Fifth Agency said it was expecting 4,000 to 5,000 students to be in attendance.  

Jake Hoffberg, sales and marketing director for Fifth Agency whose phone was operating as the box office for the festival, declined to comment on how many tickets had been sold.

Markus said full refunds will be given to anyone who contacts Fifth Agency. All refunds will be handled through credit cards, he said, whether they were purchased in person or online. Those looking for refunds can e-mail events@fifthagency.com.

Brian Binkley, president of Business Careers in Entertainment Club, said there were other concerns that had a hand in the cancelation of the event. He said he was recently notified that any damages to the festival’s field caused by flooding would have to be taken care of by BCEC and Fifth Agency. The Tundra festival would have taken place between Foster Quad and North Jordan Avenue.

Binkley said health concerns were also a contributing factor. There would be two full music business classes working in the rain for more than 12 hours.

“We don’t want to risk a chance of people getting the flu, pneumonia or any other major health risks,” Binkley said.

As for the artists scheduled to perform, Markus said they were overwhelmingly supportive. People understand things like this happen, he said. For example, in an extreme case such as Micheal Jackson’s death, his tour had to be canceled, Markus said.

“This is the music industry and things like this are going to happen,” he said.

Markus said the artists were really disappointed that the festival was canceled.

Deuce Thevenow, co-director of BCEC, said Jeremih, an artist scheduled to perform, made a drop video about how excited he was to play.

Thevenow said he thinks the artists definitely want to come to IU, and they will eventually get the chance. This is just part of the industry, Thevenow said.

As for a new date for the festival, Markus said there is going to have to be a meeting with all parties involved. From there, a decision can be made and a new date and time can be set, he said.

The best thing to take away from this, Binkley said, is everyone who worked on this festival received valuable experience.

Some students will never have the chance to work on an event similar to this again, he said.

Although everyone is disappointed that the show is not going to happen, they have a lot to take away from it, Binkley said.  

“Everything was done right and ready to go, just sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate,” Thevenow said.