Treasure Island Music Festival (TIMF) is no more, at least for the foreseeable future.
The event’s executives recently announced that TIMF will not return in 2019, and their message also indicated that the festival “is on an indefinite hiatus.”
Having debuted in 2007, Treasure Island Music Festival brought a variety of performances to fans in the San Francisco area. The festival enjoyed ample support and was evidently performing strongly enough to turn a profit (which is no small feat for a music festival).
All seemed well during last year’s show, which was headlined by A$AP Rocky and Tame Impala.
However, behind-the-scenes difficulties have coordinated with very public tribulations to make the last few years especially tough for TIMF execs; the cumulative impact of these difficulties has apparently been considerable. In 2016, construction displaced fans, and last-minute passages had to be created; 2016 also featured powerful storms that prevented many attendees from enjoying themselves.
TIMF executives and planners were forced to cancel 2017’s festival as they sought a new venue. In 2018, TIMF was held not on Treasure Island, but in Oakland, California. Once the show concluded, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, a government entity designed to protect the resources of the San Francisco Bay, issued a cease-and-desist letter to TIMF execs. The letter more or less barred the Treasure Island Music Festival from reappearing in its new location.
TIMF isn’t the only medium-sized music festival that’s had troubles as of late.
This year’s Governors Ball was marred by relentless downpours and dangerous weather, and many fans — and artists — left prematurely, before the final day of the show was canceled outright. Owing to all manner of problems relating to financing, venues, permits, and much else, Woodstock 50, a planned anniversary event for the original Woodstock concert, was recently canceled.
That said, other, larger shows, including Lollapalooza and Coachella, seem to be in no danger of shutting down. Instead, they’re positively thriving. And with Live Nation and other high-profile entertainment companies putting their resources behind more and more music festivals, it appears that multi-day — and multi-artist— concerts will remain highly lucrative, at least for the winners.