WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP, OH – Newly released records show organizers of the Voices of America Country Music Festival clashed with West Chester and Butler County officials for months over missed payments and contract breaches − so much so that the township threatened to cancel the festival this year.
West Chester officials threatened to take legal action against Further Festivals, LLC, and cancel the Voices of America Country Music Festival, which ran from Aug. 6-9 this year, due to almost $20,000 in missed payments, according to public records reviewed by The Enquirer.
Other records obtained by The Enquirer show Further Festivals was also late to pay MetroParks of Butler County over $56,000 across two years, causing the Butler County Prosecutor's
Office to threaten legal action.
Festival organizers have boasted that the event brought in over 100,000 concertgoers, but data included in the records show the actual number of visitors is less than half of that. Records also show the festival caused "detrimental impacts" to some surrounding businesses, and one festival food truck vendor told The Enquirer it took her a month to get paid.
Township officials announced July 30 it would not bring the festival back to West Chester after 2026. Officials later said in a statement that organizers with Further Festivals failed to pay bills, missed public safety planning deadlines and breached their license agreement with the township.
The music festival has taken place in West Chester's Voice of America MetroPark each August since 2023. The festival this year ran from Aug. 6-9 and featured Blake Shelton and Brad Paisley.
Further Festivals did not respond to two emails and a phone call.
Records detail lack of payment
Records released by the township detail Cincinnati-based Further Festival's delay in payment and clashes with West Chester officials.
West Chester Law Director Scott Phillips sent Further Festival's President Tyler Wogenstahl a letter on March 19 stating that the organizers still owed the township $19,274.21 in public safety costs from the 2025 event.
Phillip's letter said West Chester had to previously "involve legal counsel" after Further Festivals didn't pay public safety costs for the 2024 event. Records show Further Festivals was almost two months late in paying its $168,500 public safety invoice. Phillips threatened legal action if Further Festivals didn't make the 2025 payment.
When the township didn't receive any payment by April 15, West Chester Township Administrator Lisa Brown emailed Wogenstahl that if the township didn't receive its payment, it would prohibit Further Festivals from hosting the 2026 event. Though email correspondence shows Wogenstahl dropped off the payment later that same day, the township took additional steps to ensure it would receive payment for the 2026 event, requiring Further Festivals to pre-pay $100,000 for public safety costs.
Further Festivals also missed payments to MetroParks of Butler County for several years. Email correspondence obtained by The Enquirer show Further Festivals was at least 12 weeks late to pay the agency around $32,000 for the 2023 festival. Two years later, organizers were over a month late to pay $23,980 to MetroParks for the 2025 festival. Butler County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Gerrity told organizers in a September 2025 letter that Further Festivals had to make the payment or the prosecutor's office would take action.
The 2023 license agreement between the township and organizers automatically renewed the festival until 2026. While the agreement would have allowed the township to bring back the event for 2027 and 2028, Brown told Wogenstahl in a June 3 letter that 2026 would be the festival's last year in the township.
In the letter, Brown cited "the difficulty the Township has experienced in securing timely payment of amounts owed," as well as the significant public safety personnel needed from the township.
Nearby businesses see fewer visitors
In the June 3 letter to Wogenstahl, Brown said the festival had "detrimental impacts" on surrounding businesses, as businesses saw lower foot traffic and regular customers avoided the area during the festival weekend.
Wogenstahl previously told The Enquirer that over 100,000 people attended the 2024 festival. But the actual number of visitors appears to be less than half of that.
The discrepancy appears to stem from how concertgoers were counted. Over the event's four days, organizers saw 100,000 admissions, but many of them were fans who came for two or three nights, according to data in the records. The festival brought approximately 45,000 unique visitors to the township that year, according to a West Chester Board of Trustees meeting presentation.
In an Aug. 21 statement, West Chester officials said hotel occupancy has "steadily declined during the festival period" since 2023, and that most festivalgoers weren't staying in hotels.
Township data show the nearby shopping center, the Voice of America Center, saw fewer visitors during the 2023 and 2024 festivals than the average weekend. The center has large retailers, like Target and TJ Maxx, and restaurants including Soho Japanese Bistro, Servatii Pastry Shop, Miyako Sushi & Grill and Another Broken Egg Cafe. In 2023, there were around 400 fewer visitors than the weekend before, and in 2024 there were 1,400 fewer. Visits rebounded during the 2025 festival, when the Voice of America Center shopping center saw a higher-than-average 13,900 shoppers.
Greg Gottenbusch, owner of Servatii Pastry Shop, said Servatii's West Chester location near VOA usually sees 10% more pretzel sales during the Voice of America Country Music Festival compared to regular weekends. In 2025, the store offered festivalgoers a special on sliced pretzel sticks but decided not to do the deal again this year because the payoff wasn't worth it, Gottenbusch said.
He said that in past years, the festival has caused a "traffic headache" that can make it more difficult for employees to get to the West Chester store and might make customers avoid the area altogether.
While he hopes the festival doesn't move too far away from West Chester, "We're not upset or anything," he said.
Vendors weigh in
Vendors at the festival also shared mixed reviews.
Chicago Gyros and Dogs has been a vendor at the festival for four years. Owner Travis Brinkman said the festival has gotten better each year, and he's had a positive experience as a vendor. However, he said the festival seemed to outgrow the park.
Also, he said many of the attendees appeared to live locally. There is no camping set up at the festival, so Brinkman thinks more festivalgoers may eat at home and purchase less food than if there were more out-of-town attendees.
Nathaniel Gonyer, founder and owner of Chopp Boxx, said he's had good experiences at the event.
"If you don't do well at an event, it's easy to talk bad about it," he said.
Food truck owner left infuriated
Kimberly Heileman, owner of MamaBear's Mac, said she and her food truck "refuse to ever go back" to the festival.
She said she had to pay a fee of around $4,000 to participate in the event, and it took her more than a month to receive any payment for anything she sold using the festival's point-of-sale system. She doesn't recommend food trucks participate in the event.
"I'd be lucky if I walked away with $1,000 for four days of work," she said.
Heileman also felt the organizers didn't do a good job of promoting the food vendors, and that vendors were stationed too far away from the main stage. Due to the heat, she said many festivalgoers didn't come over to get food and that it felt very slow.
"I don't think there was any vendor there last year who thought it was a good event for them," she said.
Victoria Moorwood contributed to this reporting.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What really happened to the VOA Country Music Festival
