‘Beyond Our Control’

Atlanta Music Festival Reportedly Canned Over Georgia’s Lax Gun Laws

Organizers were apparently worried that Georgia’s gun laws would conflict with artists’ preference that the audience be unarmed.

Atlanta’s long-running Music Midtown festival has been canceled, and insiders say Georgia’s gun laws are to blame. “Hey Midtown fans — due to circumstances beyond our control, Music Midtown will no longer be taking place this year,” the festival announced on its website Monday. Not much was said beyond that, but sources told Billboard and Rolling Stone that Georgia’s loose gun laws were the reason. The festival has been held at the city-owned Piedmont Park since 2011. A 2014 Georgia law allowed residents to carry guns on publicly owned land. That right was expanded by a Georgia Supreme Court ruling in 2019 that held that businesses with short-term leases on public land (e.g., festivals) can’t supersede the statewide right to carry. This is complicated because artists don’t usually want to perform at venues teeming with guns, said Atlanta-based journalist George Chidi. The festival was supposed to be held on Sept. 17 and 18.