OCEAN CITY, Md. — The Oceans Calling Festival in Maryland has been canceled ahead of the weekend due to unsafe weather conditions expected to hit the coast.
The festival, which was set to happen in Ocean City from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, announced the cancellation Thursday, just a day before the gates were expected to open.
"We have made the difficult and heartbreaking decision to cancel this weekend’s Oceans Calling Festival," a spokesperson for the festival said.
The decision was made due to the unsafe weather conditions expected to hit the festival grounds caused by Hurricane Ian and additional severe weather conditions forecasted for the rest of the weekend.
Hurricane Ian made landfall on Wednesday in Florida as a Category 4 storm but was later downgraded to a tropical storm. According to the WUSA9 Weather Team, the tropical storm is expected to move back out to sea before making landfall again Friday afternoon and becoming a category 1 hurricane again. The storm is expected to bring heavy rain, flooding, and some storm surges along the east coast.
The Oceans Calling Festival planned to have artists including Skip Marley, Grouplove, Logic, The Lumineers, Cyndi Lauper, Alanis Morissette, and more take the stage over the course of the three-day festival.
"We hoped for a better outcome and are disappointed to share this news, however, the safety of our fans, artists and staff is our top priority," the spokesperson stated.
People who bought tickets directly through Front Gate Tickets should be issued a full refund to the original method of payment within 30 days.