Beach Road Weekend will take 2024 off and return in 2025 to an unspecified new location on Cape Cod. The festival, which launched in 2019 on Martha’s Vineyard, cited the financial difficulties of staging a full-scale festival on an island as the reason behind the hiatus and change of venue.
In a statement shared on Wednesday, organizers for Beach Road Weekend pointed to inflated production costs in the live music industry post-pandemic. Among the financial difficulties were “extraordinarily high cost for cargo, on-island accommodations for working crew, costs for on-island labor and equipment, and off-island rental equipment.” Despite nearly selling out the 2023 event, organizers said they still suffered seven-figure losses.
“It is with great disappointment and sadness that we announce that as a result of the extraordinary expense associated with producing touring shows and festivals on Martha’s Vineyard, the MV Concert Series and Beach Road Weekend will not be returning to the Island,” festival founder Adam Epstein said. “This past Beach Road Weekend was fantastic. Seeing Mumford and Sons headline an event we had built from scratch over the span of five years was exhilarating. Yet, the festival had very clear and unrelenting challenges. For every dollar we saved via experience and efficiencies, our costs would increase by two dollars from other factors. We could never catch up. Perseverance and a drive toward efficiency weren’t enough. Hotel costs for our staff, cargo and ferry-related expenses, and extra costs associated with doing the festival on an island led to an extra $1.25 million in expense each year over what the same festival would have cost on the mainland.”
Beach Road Weekend launched in 2019 and, following two pandemic-induced years off, returned in 2022 and 2023. Over the years it hosted headliners including Billy Strings, The Avett Brothers, Leon Bridges, Phil Lesh & Friends, John Fogerty, and more. In addition to providing top acts from across the musical spectrum, Beach Road Weekend was built on a charitable component that supported local organizations for the arts, education, and recreation on and around Martha’s Vineyard.
“We see a pathway where Beach Road Weekend can be successful for audiences and as a vehicle for good, but not with the extra financial challenges presented by the Vineyard’s unique location,” Beach Road Weekend co-producer Joe Kosin added. “So, the festival will take 2024 off for a re-design a [sic] location on Cape Cod to be announced at a later date. Same great festival – new location!”
Read the full announcement from Beach Road Weekend here.
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