Lockn’ Festival Cancels Thursday Performances Due to Weather

A burst of bad weather has forced Lockn' Festival organizers to pull the plug on the first night of festivities.

The festival had originally been scheduled to open tonight, but after high winds and heavy rains wreaked havoc on the grounds at Oak Ridge Farm in Arrington, Va., Lockn' 2015 is now set to begin on Sept. 11 — and Thursday's performances, which were supposed to include appearances from Grateful Dead drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann as well as Little Feat and a special collaborative set between the Doobie Brothers and the String Cheese Incident, have been canceled.

Organizers explained their decision in a press release citing "a severe thunderstorm with high winds" that "caused damage to the festival grounds, particularly the parking and campground area" and notes, "The good news is that no one was injured and the entire team is focused on cleaning up and preparing for a great festival. The unfortunate news is that we will be forced to delay the opening of the campgrounds and cancel Thursday's performances in order to give the team the time necessary to make sure the festival grounds are safe for both our guests and our artists."

The rest of the Lockn' schedule, which runs through Sept. 13 and includes a pair of special headlining sets from Robert Plant, remains intact — and as the press release points out, the truly important thing is that the storm passed through before the festival started. "Despite the inconvenience the storm has caused, we count ourselves lucky that everyone is safe and that we have three great days of music ahead of us," it concludes. "We look forward to seeing you soon."

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