In what might be heartbreaking news for many music fans, Bamboozle’s 2023 edition has been canceled. The news came a week before the time when Bamboozle was supposed to take place. After almost a decade-long halt on the festival’s organization, there was hope for it to happen, and now it has been extinguished as well.
With multiple artists who had been ready to perform at the festival, it was something that a lot of fans were looking forward to. The iconic Atlantic City festival had its own reasons behind the sudden cancellation. Let us explore all the bits one by one.
The 2023 Cancellation and The Reason
As per the official statement issued by Bamboozle, they had extensive discussions, after which the decision was taken. They have further mentioned that the refunds are to be requested at the point of purchase.
The final permits were denied by the host Atlantic City to the festival. But the issues had started off at a point quite before the permit denial as well. The fans were not happy when the top performers could not be secured by the organizers and the pricing of early bird was higher in comparison to the ticket offers that came later. Reportedly, an April 27 deadline had been missed by the organizers to submit emergency and medical plans, insurance certificates and facility fees.
As per the officials, the information had been demanded months earlier and the issues still had not reached a point where they could be resolved. Even the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs stated that they had received 21 complaints of refund requests and false advertising.
As per the Atlantic City Business Administrator Anthony Swan, the festival organizer’s attorney had been informed by the Solicitor’s Office about the deadline. The letter of information was sent on April 20, 2023. After the acknowledgment done by the attorney, there was no written request for the extension. No explanation could be provided for not being able to present the required documents as well.
With the scheduled dates for the festival being May 5 to May 7, it was definitely a huge shocker for the fans who had already been looking up to the lineup to perform. With the lineup having artists like Steve Aoki, Limp Bizkit, Rick Ross, Papa Roach, Flyleaf, Joey Badass, and Mod Sun, the festival was meant to be an absolute star-studded show of 3 days. The unfortunate news broke the hearts of those who had already paid to see their favorite artists performing in Atlantic City.
What Bamboozle Is All About?
The Bamboozle was a huge festival that started in 2003 and was held for the last time in 2012. The venue was New Jersey each and every year from the start until the very last time it happened. The festival established a reputation for inviting great artists each year for the three-day time period.
The festival invited artists like Patti Smith, Bon Jovi, Linkin Park, Deftones, Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, and Foo Fighters. With Asbury Park and Meadowlands Sport Complex as the venues, Bamboozle’s name got cemented as one of the largest festivals in New Jersey due to such epic artists.
All seemed to be going well for the festival until 2012, when John D’Esposito announced his departure from Bamboozle. As the creator of Bamboozle, his exit came as a shock. The reason cited was that he had differences with House of Blues and LiveNation. This went on for more than a decade. Bamboozle never happened, and a huge entertainment event somewhere vanished altogether.
The Return Speculations
It was in 20212 that the talks of Bamboozle seemed to rejuvenate. John D’Esposito was back in action and had bought Bamboozle’s rights and trademarks yet again. The Atlantic City location announcement was made in 2022, and the fans started boarding the hype train.
After the cancellation of the 2023 event, which was much anticipated, the fans and the vendors are now disappointed and worried about the refunds. There have been allegations of false numbers being sold to advertise the festival. While John D’Espacito had himself said that he was expecting a crowd of around 15,000 in attendance, the claims made to sell the hype seem to be a bit too high.
