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WonderRoad organizers announced Thursday that the music festival won’t be staged in June, the month the event was presented in 2022 and 2023, while leaving open the possibility of performances later this summer in Garfield Park.
Cleveland-based Elevation Festivals used social media posts to say all of the company’s “Wonder” festivals—WonderStruck in Cleveland; WonderBus in Columbus, Ohio; and WonderRoad in Indianapolis—are on hold because of financial challenges.
“It costs a lot of money to run these events and the second half of last year was really tough,” organizers said in the online statement.
WonderRoad debuted in June 2022, showcasing Vampire Weekend and Lord Huron as headliners on baseball fields in Garfield Park. The festival’s second edition followed in June 2023 with headliners Weezer and Jason Isbell.
WonderStruck, which launched in 2016 with the name LaureLive, traditionally is staged in July. WonderBus debuted in 2019 and traditionally is staged in August.
Thursday’s announcement conveyed Elevation’s hopes to bring the events back at some point.
“We are committed to putting last year behind us and gearing up for the future,” the statement read. “At this time, we are reviewing opportunities with new partners—partners who will allow us to become better and stronger.
In an email interview with the IBJ, Elevation President Denny Young said he’s optimistic about the future of WonderRoad.
“It’s not fun at the moment, but we aren’t going anywhere,” Young said. “This is what we do and we plan to see this through to a brighter spot. The city of Indianapolis is a great music town. We love Garfield Park and we can’t wait to come back. Which I promise you will be sooner rather than later.”
Young said Elevation plans to continue its relationship with Indianapolis-based concert company MOKB Presents, which assisted Elevation in the production of WonderRoad in 2022 and 2023.
The third edition of WonderRoad could happen in 2024 or at a later date, Young said.
“We are committed to our fans, brand, employees and the communities where we stage our events,” he said. “There is no time pressure.”
Young said his team will be ready if a WonderRoad lineup comes together this year.
“If it takes longer, but can put us in a position to have sustainable events for the next decade, then we will be patient,” he said.
Another multi-day music festival that debuted in Indianapolis two summers ago and returned in 2023 has not announced plans for 2024. A spokesperson for the All IN Music & Arts Festival, which has presented headliners such as Cage the Elephant and Trey Anastasio at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, told the IBJ that information about the festival’s status is expected to be shared in late April or early May.
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Sounds like Live Nation is putting the thumb on them and telling the acts play our venues or get punished.
More like poor leadership and funding… they approached my company to do business with them in 2022 and we could tell they were operating on a shoestring budget. They really didn’t have any idea what they were doing… just over a month out from the festival and they had no idea that they needed food and liquor licenses for the event. We ultimately passed on working with them because you could just tell there were so many issues and we were worried about getting paid if we signed on.