Major Michigan Music Festival Indefinitely Suspended

Live music has been back and bigger than ever following all the pandemic shutdowns. However, one major Michigan music festival has been "indefinitely suspended."

There had actually been rumors of this event going on hiatus for a while. It's a bit surprising, since it's pulled in some of the biggest names over the years, including Big Sean, Jhené Aiko, Glass Animals, Euphoria star Dominic Fike, Wet Leg, Khruangbin, Tiny Jag, Bon Iver, Modest Mouse, Lizzo, The 1975, Vampire Weekend and even Billie Eilish, before she hit it big.

The festival I'm talking about is Mo Pop Festival, which takes place annually in Detroit. Producers AEG Presents announced earlier this week that the festival is going on "hiatus from the annual outdoor festival model." AEG also stated in the announcement that it will debut the Mo Pop Presents brand, which will offer "specialty activations and concert tie-ins" around Detroit.

Mo Pop kicked off in 2013 as a one-day event taking place at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights. It moved to West Riverfront Park in Detroit in 2015. Last summer, Mo Pop moved from West Riverfront Park to Hart Plaza, but brought in the same kind of talent.

According to AEG, the event has been dealing with "unexpected challenges" following after the two-year break caused by the pandemic. A statement on the festival website adds, "This is not a goodbye. This is our ongoing love letter to our fans and Detroit." AEG is also asking fans of the festival to sign up for a newsletter to learn about Mo Pop Presents events. "Although we may look different," organizers state, "we promise to continue our mission to showcase up and coming artists along with welcoming back some of your favorites from Mo Pop over the years." Hopefully Mo Pop will be able to resurface as an annual festival again, when the timing and market is right.