West Chester officials say the organizers that operated the Voice of America Country Music Festival repeatedly failed to pay their bills, missed public safety planning deadlines and didn't meet their license agreement with the township.
That's part of the reason the township is choosing not bring the festival back to West Chester in the future, according to a statement. The festival, which has taken place in the Greater Cincinnati township each August since 2023, ran from Aug. 6 to 9 this year.
"The Township cannot continue to commit substantial public resources and assume financial risk for a private, for-profit event without timely payment or demonstrated positive economic impact to the community," West Chester officials said in the Aug. 21
statement.
Officials say Further Management & Productions was late to pay for public safety costs for the 2024 and 2025 iterations of the festival. This caused the township to "involve legal counsel to receive payment," the statement said.
The statement also said Further Festivals, a division of Further Management & Productions, failed to repair the property "wholly and in a timely manner." The Enquirer visited the festival grounds on Aug. 15, six days after the last day of performances, and saw trash and debris on the land. Part of the grounds were flooded and covered in mud.
Further Festivals did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication. The group's CEO, Tyler Wogenstahl, did not respond to a call to a phone number associated with him prior to publication.
Township didn't see positive economic impact
The statement also said the township hasn't seen a "large enough positive economic impact" required to sustain the event. It said that hotel occupancy rates during the festival have declined since it started in 2023 and that "less than 1%" of attendees stayed in local hotels.
"Businesses surrounding the festival continue to report reduced customer traffic and lower sales during the event, as regular customers avoid the area if they are not attending the festival," the statement said. Additionally, the statement said the economic benefit isn't enough to offset the cost to taxpayers to cover West Chester's legal fees.
The township said that despite these challenges, it isn't opposed to having large events again in the future.
"We recognize the value large events can bring to the community and remain open to working with organizers who can reliably meet their financial, operational, and contractual obligations," the statement said.
This story may be updated.
Victoria Moorwood contributed to this reporting.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: VOA Country Music Festival organizers violated contracts, township says
