Okeechobee announces dates for 2020 return under Insomniac/Soundslinger partnership

Many Okeechobeans were struck with heartbreak when rumors began circulating that the festival’s parent company, Soundslinger, had folded. As a result, the Florida-based concert promoters were forced to make the call that Okeechobee would not be returning for its fourth year. However, organizers made an official statement promising that the event would resume in 2020. Now they are making good on that promise with the announcement that Okeechobee’s return on March 5-8, 2020.

Lake Okeechobee News has reported that the Okeechobee County Commission’s July 24 meeting officially “approved Soundslinger’s request to hold the Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival at Sunshine Grove.”

“This festival is unique,” said Jim Whisenand, a member of the Soundslinger board of directors. “Most music festivals are in urban areas. At Sunshine Grove, we have 600 pristine acres with wooded areas and a lake.” He said the festival even creates a beach for the festival.

The report also confirms a previous anonymous source rumor that Okeechobee will be jointly produced under the Insomniac Events brand, a company who’s laid the bedrock for the world’s most extravagant EDM festivals, including EDC Las Vegas, Electric Forest, Middlelands, and more.

Earlier this year, Soundslinger had motioned to hold the festival on the weekend of March 12-15 to better line up with college spring breaks in the Southeast. However, Okeechobee County Sheriff, Noel Stephen, raised concerns about the second weekend in  March conflicting with the area’s annual Speckled Perch Festival and the Okeechobee Cattlemen’s Association Cowtown Rodeo.

“We have never been against the music fest,” said James Colgan, Okeechobee County Cattlemen’s Association president, speaking to the Sheriff’s department’s inability to provide adequate security for the festival. “The issue is having it on the same weekend as the rodeo. We can’t change our date. It’s based on forces beyond our control.”

Okeechobee’s initial line-up is set to land sometime in October, with the final line-up happening in November.

Via: Lake Okeechobee News