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After severe storms canceled the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival for 2025, organizers say the 2026 edition of the festival will have a budget to deal with severe weather.
Many attendees of the Bonnaroo 2025 experience described the events as chaotic and poorly managed, pointing to a range of issues. Torrential rains turned the campgrounds into muddy, impassable fields. Even though only an inch of rain fell, the site’s weakest areas flooded rapidly, exposing the vulnerability of festival infrastructure.
Information about delays, evacuations, and program changes was at times confusing or delayed for those attending. Many attendees took to social media to lament they felt stranded and left in the dark about how to leave the festival. That wasn’t helped by the sudden influx of storm water that overwhelmed sanitation facilities.
Initially, organizers offered a partial 75% refund for attendees, but after widespread complaints on social media and a petition with thousands of signatures, they decided to offer full refunds to everyone. Long-time Bonnaroovians were especially disheartened at this year’s show since this is the third cancellation of the Tennessee festival in five years.
Determined to regain trust, Bonnaroo organizers have announced the 2026 return of the festival for June 11 – 14, 2026. They also revealed a multi-million budget dedicated to weatherproofing The Farm. So what’s different next year? The festival will no longer use the low-lying camping areas most affected by flooding, which means a reduction in overall capacity. Organizers are also focusing on infrastructure upgrades, including reseeding grass to improve land resilience, reinforcing campground access roads, and upgraded drainage and runoff systems.
Early campground entry will now start on Wednesday. The Infinity Stage, which experienced technical issues in 2025, will be replaced by an updated Where in the Woods UFO stage to increase reliability.
There was also some discussion about moving the start date of the festival to a different season, but attendees expressed enjoying the June window. Organizers acquiesced, stating, “Weather experts have confirmed that we saw record-setting rainfall this spring and early summer, making what we experienced extremely uncommon.”
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