ALL IN Music & Arts Festival isn’t taking the stage this year.
Organizers announced via Facebook and Instagram on Friday that, after two years of bringing musical artists to the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the festival is going on hiatus this year to return next year.
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“We’re taking a year off and will return BIGGER AND BETTER for ALL IN 2025. We know that we’ve created something special, and we appreciate all of you that have attended and supported us,” a brief social media post said. “ALL IN is ALL about the music and the experience at the most convenient and comfortable festival in America, and truly one of the best.”
The online statement did not provide a reason for the hiatus.
But in a telephone interview Saturday morning, co-organizer and longtime concert promoter Steve Sybesma said a confluence of factors contributed to the All IN team not being able to pull the festival together this year.
“It takes a lot to put together a festival,” Sybesma said. “All the things need to come together in the right way, the availability of artists, the dates, and other things going on in the city and things like that, so at some point we had to make a decision to do not it this year.”
The announcement comes roughly a month and a half after promoters of WonderRoad, an Indianapolis music festival held in Garfield Park, announced in March their event likely won’t take place in June due to financial struggles in the last six months of 2023. No updates have been provided since. It’s unclear if or when WonderRoad would return.
That same month, Bloomberg reported that a string of music festivals across the country were hitting the pause button in 2024, reflecting increased production costs due to inflation and competition for musical artists — many of whom raised their prices after the pandemic to recoup lost income.
Festivals taking the year off included Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Festival in Columbus, Ohio, and the Okeechobee Music Festival in Florida. Most recently, Music Midtown, a popular festival held in Atlanta, announced that it has canceled this year’s show and aimed for a 2025 comeback.
“Things always cost more every year, and the costs have gone up quite a bit — insurance, stuff like that. I can’t say that’s the deciding factor, but it’s part of it,” Sybesma said. “It’s just a lot of different things, you know, primarily the ability to find the right artists to make it a good festival, and usually, we’re able to put that together. It just didn’t happen this year.”
The two-day ALL IN Music & Arts Festival debuted in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend 2022. Daryl Hall and John Oats headlined the that year. Sybesma said about 10,000 people — 5,000 per day — attended during that debut weekend.
The festival returned in 2023 with rock duo Tenacious D and Phish lead singer Trey Anastasio among the headlining acts. Other musical artists taking the stage include Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, The Beatles Dreamset and Cory Wong. Sybesma said weekend attendance numbers were around 12,800 total or 6,400 people per day.
ALL IN is the brainchild of Sybesma, Paul Peck, Dave Lucas and music manager Kevin Browning.
Sybesma is a former executive for Sunshine Promotions and founder of the Indiana Rock History Project. Peck co-founded the Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival with Sybesma. Peck also was part of the team that founded the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. Sybesma worked with Lucas at Sunshine Promotions. The company helped renovate the Murat Centre.
With ALL IN, the group hoped to establish Indianapolis as a national music festival destination. The weekend event is advertised as the most comfortable festival in America for its indoor and outdoor stages, real restrooms, easy parking and seating.
Despite the hiatus, there’s still hope to grow ALL IN Music & Art Festival. Sybesma said the festival will return to the Indiana State Fairgrounds next year.
The 2025 festival is more than a year out, but Sybesma hopes to get an earlier start on planning.
“I would say likely it’s going to be the same time period which was the week after the Labor Day weekend this year,” he said, “but we’re a little too far out to know that right now because the exact weekend kind of depends on the talent.”
Contact IndyStar investigative reporter Alexandria Burris at aburris@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @allyburris.
