Oceans Calling Scraps Opening Day After Beach Erosion Hits Festival Site

Oceans Calling Festival has called off the first of its three days in Ocean City, Maryland. Friday's (Sept. 25) program will not happen after a week of bad weather and beach erosion damaged the boardwalk site where the event is staged.

The canceled day was set to be topped by Dave Matthews Band and Hootie And The Blowfish, with Yellowcard, Ludacris, O.A.R, Shaggy and Liz Phair also on the bill. None of those sets will take place.

In a statement, organizers said that despite the work of production, site and safety crews along with city staff and officials, conditions made it impossible to finish the build safely in time. The festival stressed that fan, artist, crew and community safety comes first.

Refunds are already being addressed: single-day Friday tickets and 33% of three-day passes bought directly through Front Gate Tickets will be returned automatically to the original payment method, in as little as 30 days.

Saturday and Sunday remain up in the air, with the festival asking ticketholders to watch its official channels for updates as it tries to salvage the rest of the weekend. Twenty One Pilots and Gwen Stefani are billed to headline Saturday, followed by Mumford & Sons and Matchbox Twenty on Sunday. The cancellation arrives shortly after Santa Monica's Ocean Way Festival was scrapped over similar erosion problems.