February’s Coastline Festival Abruptly Cancelled Once Again

The Flaming Lips, Future Islands, and The Airborne Toxic event were just a few of the several acts scheduled to perform on Feb. 21-22 at St. Petersburg’s Vinoy Park and the Pompano Beach Amphitheater for the Coastline Festival.

Unfortunately due to some financial mishaps, the event has been cancelled.

A visit to their website and Facebook page now shows the following message:

“We regretfully must announce that Coastline Festival on Feb. 21 and 22nd has been

cancelled. All ticket purchasers will be refunded from point of purchase. If you purchased your ticket through Ticketmaster this will automatically be credited to your account within five business days. The festival will be going on a hiatus and rescheduled for a future date. Everyone involved with Coastline would like to thank the fans and the music, food, art, and craft community for their support, and we look forward to hopefully seeing you in the near future.”

Previously tied to Live Nation, the first (and so far, only) Coastline Festival was held in Tampa and West Palm Beach on Nov. 9 and 10 of 2013. With a stellar lineup (Passion Pit, Two Door Cinema Club, Surfer Blood) and an array of food trucks and craft beers, this gig was destined to be a hit.

The following year, there was no Coastline Festival. Instead, Live Nation replaced it with the Coral Skies Festival, which followed its same philosophy.

All seemed to be going well for Coastline once it announced it was coming back in 2015, but its sudden cancellation now brings more questions to the table. It turns out the ticket sales didn’t meet up to its expectations. According to The Tampa Bay Times, Mike Childs, one of the head organizers for the event said it just didn’t “take the financial hit that we’d have to take to be able to tell our story.” There is hope for the festival, as Childs “believes Coastline will return to St. Petersburg.”

In the meantime, there is one grand festival to look forward to. The Big Guava Music Festival which will take place in Tampa on the weekend of May 8 and 9. Their lineup includes The Strokes, Pixies, TV on the Radio, and James Blake.  

For more information, check Coast Line Festival and Big Guava Fest.