Hot August Music Festival 2026 Canceled Due To Poor Ticket Sales
Organizers said ticket sales for the Cockeysville, Maryland event were “well below” sustainable levels and pointed to ongoing challenges facing the live music industry.
By Scott Bernstein Jul 28, 2026 • 8:54 am PDT
Hot August Music Festival organizers delivered what they called “some difficult and disappointing news” by announcing the cancellation of the festival’s 2026 edition. In a statement shared on social media, promoters said weak ticket sales left the event financially unsustainable and thanked fans for their support over the years.
According to the statement, the cancellation stems from ticket sales falling “below expectations and any sustainable level.” Organizers noted, “We put forth our best effort to build a festival that would thrive.”
The Hot August team pointed to a trend affecting many other festivals. “The live music industry has undergone distruptive change and we are not immune from its effects,” organizers wrote. “We did everything we could to steward the festival, but we have to face the realities of the festival industry as it is today, not how we wish it was.”
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The 2026 Hot August Music Festival was supposed to take place August 21 and 22 at Oregon Ridge Park in Cockeysville, Maryland. The event started in 1993 on a farm in Monkton, Maryland and eventually moved to its longtime home at Oregon Ridge to accomodate larger crowds.
Hot August was produced by Music Matters, described as “a 501(c)3 not for profit organization recognized by the IRS and the State of Maryland as a charity that was formed to cultivate, support, and promote programs and events that make music – specifically live performance – accessible to broad and diverse audiences.”
The 2026 lineup was headlined by Cory Wong, Galactic, Dogs In A Pile and Eric Gales. Other artists previously scheduled to perform at the event include Lindsay Lou, Vanessa Collier, Uncle Kunkle’s One Gram Band, Owen Stewart and The Fitzkee Brothers.
Read the full statement below:
