Amsterdam’s Music On Festival cancels hours before opening due to permit issues

Amsterdam-based festival Music On was called off just hours before opening to the public over the weekend due to permit issues.

The festival was due to take place at Meerpark from Saturday, May 9, to Sunday, May 10, with sets from the likes of Max Dean, Josh Baker and Marco Carola, who founded the Music On imprint.

Music On revealed the "devastating news" to ticketholders just hours before it was due to kick off, sharing in a statement on Instagram: "We had no choice but to cancel."

"This morning, the Municipality of Amsterdam revoked our permit to hold the festival," the team behind the festival explained. "We are shocked and deeply disappointed by this outcome."

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They urged attendees not to travel to the festival grounds, adding that they only received information about the municipality’s decision that morning.

In an update shared later in the afternoon, Music On revealed that its by-night programme would continue "as planned", though tickets for both its Saturday and Sunday events were confirmed to have sold out.

"We fought for our festival," they said. "We gave everything we had, but it wasn’t enough. We fully understand the uncertainty and confusion of today, and we truly appreciate your patience and support."

"We are overwhelmed with emotion and need a moment to process this. We understand you have a lot of questions. We will come back to you as soon as possible with information on next steps," they added.

Ticketholders shared their frustration in the comments, many of whom said they had travelled from overseas to attend the festival.

"This is completely unacceptable. People have traveled from around the world for this," one person commented. "Only thing that needs to be processed is our refunds," another said.

Read Music On's statement below.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on X