Blues on the Green, the long-running free concert series that populates Zilker Park throughout the summer, is officially canceled for 2024.
Presenters Austin City Limits Radio announced the news in a statement on Wednesday, Jan. 17, describing increasing challenges in putting on a festival “without admission fees and bar sales.”
“It’s become more challenging every year to produce an event that’s grown to this size and still keep it free and open to the public,” the statement reads. “Unfortunately, this year, the rising costs present too big of a hurdle.”
Last summer, longtime ACL Radio host and Blues on the Green booker Andy Langer announced he was stepping away from the concert series and did not organize that season’s events. Citing similar financial challenges, Langer said the station opted to “adjust the BOTG formula, resulting in the redistribution of some responsibilities.”
After launching at North Austin shopping center the Arboretum, Blues on the Green has been an Austin institution for over three decades, drawing tens of thousands of Austinites to Zilker Park in recent years. In 2020, the event pivoted to a COVID-era live stream dubbed Blues on the Screen. The online show featured an all-Black lineup curated by Jackie Venson, who previously dropped off the bill in protest of the event’s historical lack of lineup diversity.
The concert series has pared down its festivities in the years since the pandemic. The 2021 season – coinciding with the event’s 30th anniversary – was cut short due to a wave of Delta variant infections, culminating in a well-received Gary Clark Jr.-curated Handpicked Homegrown All-Star Revue. Last year’s showcase capped at two nights headlined by Nashville’s Devon Gilfillian and Austin’s Wild Child.
“We love BOTG, Austin loves BOTG, and it’s our hope that we can work with the city, community, and sponsors to return sometime soon,” ACL Radio said in its cancellation announcement.
“Austin, please know that we wish it wasn’t so. Know that we know Blues on the Green is an important community institution. Know that we’re grateful to everyone who’s spread out a blanket, worked behind the scenes or played our stage. And most importantly, know that we believe this is hold-on, not goodbye.”
This article appears in January 12 • 2024.
