Panaroma butts heads with Governors Ball, heads to the festival graveyard for 2019

The festival attempted to butt heads with Live Nation’s Governor’s Ball — and lost.

Panorama Music Festival will not return for 2019, following weeks of speculation that it may join the laundry list of festivals that wound up in the festival graveyard this year. The AEG and Goldenvoice-backed festival, which was partially booked by Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett, hadn’t been performing well for years in its home on NYC’s Randall’s Island.

“Huge site cost” and “lack of ticket sales” hurt the event from the start,” according to TheFestiveOwl. “If it returns, it seems unlikely to be in its current location.”

Panorama Festival was set to take place in Queens on the site of the 1939 World Fair. However, when word broke that AEG was planning to bring the event to the exact site of Governors Ball, organizers at Governors Ball immediately began efforts to block the event. Not to mention, AEG was attempting to slate Panorama only two weeks after Governors Ball.

To make matters worse, AEG had been in talks to buy Governors Ball from Founders Entertainment, a company who was acquired by its rival, Live Nation, in 2016. Needless to say, talks collapsed upon AEG’s business decision to enter its own stomping grounds. Eventually, New York Mayor Bill De Blasio negotiated a compromise between the two rival conglomerates, moving Panorama to Randalls Island and pushing the festival back into July, seven weeks after Governors Ball.

Still, AEG is holding out hope over Panorama’s return in 2020. The live music monopoly issued a statement that the company plans to “continue discussions with NYC Parks to bring the festival to Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, where it was originally envisioned.” They are continuing to pursue permits for Flushing Meadows with NYC Parks.

AEG and Live Nation has a long history of brutal competition in the live music marketplace. One that, in the past, has involved the US Justice Department.

Read the full statement from AEG announcing Panorama’s postponement:

Panorama will be taking a hiatus in 2019 while we continue discussions with NYC Parks to bring the festival to Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, where it was originally envisioned.  

We had a fantastic experience with Paul Simon this past September at Flushing Meadows and look forward to returning in the future. 

We were disappointed in NYC Parks denial of our permit application despite the long term benefits this event would deliver to the community and the park.  

While we have enjoyed our time on Randall’s Island and its great facilities, we feel that we have achieved all that we can at this site. We look forward to continued conversations with City Parks to explore making the Flushing Meadows site a reality. Until then, we thank the fans and artists who supported the event for the last 3 years of fantastic performances.