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Music

Middlelands Music Festival Not Invited Back for 2018

The Texas Renaissance Festival told Insomniac officials on Thursday that the music festival was not welcome for next year.
Photo via Middlelands Twitter.

The fate of the Middlelands Music Festival, which debuted earlier this year, is in flux.

According to a report from KHOU, neighbors and local Todd Mission, Texas officials have decided to not welcome the Middlelands Music Festival back to the grounds of the Texas Renaissance Festival in 2018. Around 60,000 people showed up to Middlelands over the course of the festival.

Neighbors met with Insomniac, the organizers of Middlelands, at a town hall on Thursday. Despite the lack of arrests or other major problems at the festival, neighbors are reportedly still upset over the three-day event.

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"It was a nightmare. When I called Saturday and they said it was going to go on Sunday I said I'm just going to kill myself," said Beverly Welch-Steadman, who lives near the site of this year's festival.

"Headliners, we are shocked and disappointed by today's decision from Texas Renaissance Festival officials to no longer host #Middlelands at the Texas Renaissance Festival Fair Grounds," the festival said in a statement released on Facebook. "We entered into this partnership with the shared idea of creating a safe and magical experience for our fans as well as the surrounding communities of Todd Mission."

Pasquale Rotella, the head of Insomniac, also released a statement expressing his displeasure over the cancellation. Rotella reportedly flew to Texas for the town hall and was told upon arrival that the Texas Renaissance Festival was cancelling the meeting.

"Happy to say we received an incredible amount of positive feedback and support from attendees and many local businesses," Rotella said. "We did experience some issues with sound complaints in the community, but these are not problems that are isolated to our shows. These are normal growing pains for any first-time festival… and there are always solutions." Rotella also said this is not the end of the festival and vowed to be back.

Performers at this year's festival included Bonobo, Major Lazer, and Zhu.