Furnace Fest may actually be coming to an end this year due to low ticket sales. The Birmingham, Alabama punk music festival has been going strong for 25 years, however, the festival is not doing as well as it once did. The festival is set to take place on October 3 through October 5 at Sloss Furnace. However, it risks being canceled altogether and has forced organizers to lower their prices. The festival’s official Instagram account recently made a statement explaining the decision, saying, “Furnace Fest Fam, we’re going to shoot you straight – ticket sales aren’t where they need to be. We could make excuses, but we’d rather take action and do everything we can to fill Sloss with people, not reasons why it didn’t work.” He continued, “To keep this thing alive, we’ve rolled prices back to early bird rates. We know not everyone will agree with this decision, but the choice was simple: cut prices to move tickets or cancel altogether. If you purchased at tier one pricing, we’ll do our best to make it right for you.” The post specifically emphasized that Furnace Fest is an independent promoter with no corporate backing that focuses on promoting local artists. 

 

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According to antiMusic, the festival’s founder, Chad Johnson, also made a statement expressing his original intention for Furnace Fest. Johnson stated, “I started Furnace Fest 25 years ago right here in Birmingham, Alabama, as an expression of the local punk and hardcore scene, and with a desire to provide a space of belonging and connection for anybody and everybody, no matter how they viewed themselves or others or how they felt about religion or politics or anything else, it absolutely didn’t matter. They were welcomed at Furnace Fest.” He continued by asking fans if the lowered prices would convince them to attend the festival. Commenters have had a lot to say about the reason for lower attendance rates. Some have cited their distrust with the festival after it told fans that last year would be the final Furnace Fest. Others claimed that the prices are still too high for a smaller music festival and that the lineup is not interesting enough. Those interested in the cheaper ticket prices can purchase tickets here.