SoulFest canceled

GILFORD — SoulFest, the Christian music festival originally scheduled to take place Aug. 6-8 at Gunstock, has been canceled as organizers look toward to holding the 23rd iteration of the event in 2021.

In an announcement made yesterday, Vanessa Ayersman, general manager of New Sound, Inc., said that postponing the event was “the only way to ensure everyone’s safety and SoulFest’s future. Following national, as well as, many of New England’s individual state reopening taskforce guidelines, there are simply too many unknown variables that make the risk too great.”

The announcement also revealed that the organization made the decision at a point of strife.

“Last summer, SoulFest’s attendance was the lowest it’s been in years and we suffered a big loss,” Ayersman said. The 2020 festival was shaping up to be a rebound year, based on early ticket sales, until it became clear that coronavirus was going to dominate the spring, and possibly summer, of this year. Ticket sales slowed and sponsors and vendors became skittish.

Then came the injury to join the insult: festival co-founder Dan Russell suffered a stroke, Ayersman said. He is currently recovering in a rehab facility.

The announcement included a plea for help, both in terms of prayer and donation to New Sound Concerts, the nonprofit organization behind the festival.

Those who hold tickets to this year’s event can choose to hang on until next year – the dates are Aug. 5-7, 2021 – or they may “donate” their ticket by emailing information@thesoulfest.com. This would mean that the organization would be able to sell their ticket again. The announcement did not include information about refunds.