Massive Nor’Easter Storm Cancels First Day of Ocean Calling Festival in Maryland

As climate change continues to spin up stronger and stronger storms during the Atlantic hurricane season, more and more summer and early fall festivals are feeling the impact. The latest casualty is Ocean City, Maryland’s Oceans Calling Festival, which announced on Thursday (Sept. 24) that Friday’s (Sept. 25) first day of this weekend’s three-day event has been canceled due to expected rough weather.

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“Despite the extraordinary efforts of our production, site, safety teams, and the city staff/officials the impacts of this week’s continued weather, including beach erosion that affected the festival site, have made it impossible to safely complete the build in time for Friday,” the festival announced in a statement.

As a result, Friday’s lineup has been completely waved off, meaning ticketholders will not get a chance to see headliners Dave Matthews Band, nor Hootie & the Blowfish, Ludacris, O.A.R., Yellowcard, Shaggy, Liz Phair, Everlast, Gavin DeGraw, Better Than Ezra and the rest of the scheduled lineup.

“The safety of our fans, artists, crew, and community must come first,” organizers said, noting that one-day Friday tickets and 33% of 3-Day tickets purchased through Front Gate Tickets will be automatically refunded within 30 days.

The news came as the area is bracing for a strong nor’easter storm off the coast that could bring coastal flooding, beach erosion and strong gusts of wind on Saturday, with WBOC reporting that winds on Friday night into Saturday could gust to over 55 m.p.h. at the beach. Ocean City Emergency Services director Joe Theobald told the station that the prolonged nature of the storm played a major role in conditions around the festival site.

“This is a typical nor’easter for the coastline. It’s nothing new for Ocean City,” Theobald said. “So it’s a sustained period of time, and that’s really what’s played into this.” Theobald noted that there is already clear beach erosion near the inlet where much of the festival is constructed, with the decision to pull the plug based on a combination of the current conditions and the forecast for additional rough weather this weekend.

At press time, the festival that takes place on the Ocean City boardwalk had not provided an update on how the storm might impact Saturday and Sunday’s lineups, which are slated to feature sets from Twenty One Pilots, Gwen Stefani, Goo Goo Dolls, Third Eye Blind, Mumford & Sons, Matchbox Twenty, Caamp, My Morning Jacket and more.

It’s been a summer of climate-related disasters for music festivals, including the cancellation of the inaugural Ocean Way Festival earlier this month two weeks before its debut due to reported dangerous high surf and flooding caused by Southern California hurricane Marie, as well as Bonnaroo canceling its 2027 edition in advance due to damage caused by storms that pounded the area during this year’s event. Prior to announcing next year’s lay-off, this year’s show was hit by severe storms that caused a temporary evacuation of the site and a pushback and cancellation of several sets.

Earlier this summer, Rolling Stone reported that a raft of shows were postponed or canceled due to poor air quality caused by raging wildfires in the northeast U.S. and southern Canada, impacting shows by the Black Keys, John Mellencamp, Mavis Staples, Creed, the War and Treaty and others.