Heavy rain, strong winds and coastal flooding threats from a predicted nor’easter have led to the cancellation of several major events across the northeastern United States, including festivals in New York and concerts by Ed Sheeran in Massachusetts.
The weather disruptions come as the storm is expected to bring dangerous conditions, with New York Governor Kathy Hochul declaring a state of emergency for several counties and urging residents to avoid travel, prepare for possible outages and look out for one another.
All Things Go NYC Canceled
All Things Go NYC has canceled its weekend-long festival at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, which was scheduled to run from Friday, September 25, through Sunday, September 27.
Organizers said they made the “difficult decision” after consulting local officials, Forest Hills Stadium representatives and weather advisers.
“We really don’t know how to put into words how heartbroken we are,” organizers said in a social media post, adding that the safety of fans, artists and local crew was their top priority.
Fans who purchased tickets through AXS online or by phone will automatically receive refunds to the credit card used for the purchase within 30 business days. Other ticket holders can collect refunds from their original point of purchase.
The festival was due to feature several artists, including Zara Larsson in her first-ever headlining festival set.
Global Citizen Festival Also Scrapped
Global Citizen also canceled its annual festival in New York City’s Central Park because of the extreme weather forecast.
The organization said it made the decision in consultation with the City of New York and NYC Parks, citing dangerous conditions that would make it unsafe to bring tens of thousands of attendees, artists, crew, vendors, partners and staff onto the Great Lawn.
Global Citizen said the cancellation was the first in the festival’s 14-year history.
Ed Sheeran Shows Canceled In Massachusetts
Ed Sheeran’s scheduled concerts at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts were also canceled because of severe weather warnings across Boston and New England.
The stadium said Friday and Saturday shows were called off following consultations involving local officials, the promoter and the tour.
“Due to the severe weather warnings in place in Boston and across New England throughout the weekend,” the venue said, the concerts were canceled with the safety of fans and everyone involved as the top priority.
Tickets are refundable, with Ticketmaster customers set to receive automatic refunds.
Other events were also affected by the storm, including Oceans Calling in Maryland and a Red Sox-Cubs baseball game, which was relocated to Florida.