Evano5

Country Thunder cannot blame City noise rules that it said, two days ago, would not affect their event. I was really disappointed to see Country Thunder throw the City and music fans under the bus today by falsely blaming our noise rules for cancelling their concert. They are plainly trying to take advantage of the noise and misinformation around this and bluntly hoping that you wouldn't look at the facts. Just two days ago, Country Thunder told CityNews that things were going well and that the City’s noise rules would not affect its event. This and other articles clearly state that the organizers say the changes won't impact their operations. Their own staff are quoted saying, “Our curfew for our festival has always been 11 p.m.” So blaming a midnight music cutoff for shutting down your concert that ends at 11 p.m. is absolutely bogus. Country Thunder was never part of the debate over whether the downtown tents should end at 2am or midnight. In fact, the City actually increased the allowable music volume for Country Thunder this year. Now, two days after saying things were going great, Country Thunder says sound limits made their event impossible. Those statements do not line up. Even their statements about construction are easily debunked, because our teams have been working really closely with them for months now. I am not going to speculate about why they made this decision to so grossly mislead the public. I'm not going to speculate on how the massive rain this weekend was going to impact their sales. And I'm not going to speculate on how the news of their headliner Kane Brown pulling out of concerts was going to impact sales. But it's crystal clear Country Thunder made a business decision that cannot blamed on the city noise rules. I'm really disappointed for ticket holders, workers, vendors, performers, local businesses, and every music fan who planned to attend. Calgary supports great events, live music, tourism, and jobs. But the facts matter. And organizers need to be honest with their customers and take responsibility for their decisions.