Just one month before it was to begin, organizers just sent out a mass email from React Presents and Jam Productions announcing the cancellation of the 2019 edition of Mamby on the Beach.
This year’s Mamby on the Beach festival was to have taken place on Montrose Beach on the northside of Chicago on August 23 to August 24 2019. There was some initial hesitation as this was the location of 2013’s Wavefront, a music festival that was viewed as highly successful but lead to numerous noise and traffic complaints in the neighborhood. The Chicago Tribune wrote at great length about protests against Mamby moving to Montrose Beach and efforts to mediate between locals and the festival’s promoters.
Mamby had “lost money in recent years” Jam Productions’ Jerry Mickelson told the Tribune, “partly because of location” prior to moving to Montrose Beach.
But React and Jam say that the cancellation is a result of “higher than average waters of Lake Michigan” which took away from the “beach” portion of the festival’s site (and festival’s name). There were also environmental concerns over “the presence of Great Lakes Piping Plover shorebirds, a federally protected species.”
This is the first time in recent memory that I can recall a local festival being cancelled so close to the event date.
The statement announced that See Tickets will be automatically refunding online orders next week. (“Please allow 5-10 business days post the actual refund date for the funds to be credited to your account.”) Those who report problems or who haven’t received a refund after that period should contact help@seetickets.us.
