The Tennessee Festival Will Give The Farm a Year to Recover
Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will not take place in 2027. Organizers announced on August 21 that the Manchester, Tennessee festival is taking a year off, giving its home at The Farm time to recover after consecutive years of severe storms and flooding.
The announcement comes only weeks after Bonnaroo 2026. The weather forced the festival to close Centeroo, its main venue area, and led to evacuations, delays, and canceled performances. One year earlier, severe weather and flooding cut the 2025 festival short after its first day.
For Bonnaroo, the decision means an unexpected pause for one of the country’s best-known camping music festivals. Organizers have described the 2027 break as necessary for the grounds to rest and recover, with the festival planning to return in 2028.
The Farm Needs Time
Bonnaroo organizers said they had already invested heavily in preparing The Farm for the 2026 festival. Those improvements included enhanced drainage, 4.5 miles of new roadways, and 135 acres of new grass intended to strengthen the property against severe weather.
Those upgrades helped improve the grounds, but another round of heavy rain created problems during the 2026 festival. The main venue was temporarily closed during the final day, and multiple performances were affected as officials responded to the conditions.
The decision to skip 2027 comes after two consecutive years in which storms significantly affected the festival. In 2025, flooding forced Bonnaroo to end the event after the first day. In 2026, the festival made it through most of its schedule before another major storm disrupted the final day.
Organizers said the limited time between those storms left The Farm without enough opportunity to fully recuperate. The main venue, in particular, needs time to recover before another festival is built around it.
A Difficult Stretch for Bonnaroo
The 2026 edition featured The Strokes, Noah Kahan, and RÜFÜS DU SOL among its headliners, with Kesha, Skrillex, The Lemon Twigs, and other artists also appearing across the weekend. The festival’s final-day weather disruption therefore came after most of the planned programming had already taken place, making the interruption especially noticeable for attendees still on the grounds.
Bonnaroo has faced weather-related challenges before, but the past two festival cycles have created an especially difficult stretch for the event. The 2025 cancellation followed another disruption in 2021, when Bonnaroo was canceled because of flooding associated with Hurricane Ida. The festival was also canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest decision is different because organizers are intentionally stepping away for a year to address the condition of the festival grounds. No 2027 lineup had been announced before the cancellation.
The festival debuted in 2002 and has built its identity around The Farm, where attendees camp while spending several days moving between stages and activities. That setting is a major part of the Bonnaroo experience, making the condition of the property especially important to the festival’s future.
For fans, the announcement means there will be no Bonnaroo weekend in 2027. The usual anticipation around artist announcements, ticket sales, camping plans, and trips to Manchester will have to wait another year.
What’s Next for Bonnaroo?
Bonnaroo’s organizers have framed the hiatus as a step toward protecting the festival’s future. Their statement said the decision was not easy, while expressing confidence that the break will ultimately make Bonnaroo better.
The festival has not announced a 2028 lineup or specific plans for its return beyond confirming that it intends to come back in 2028. For now, the focus remains on giving The Farm time to recover from the damage and strain caused by recent storms.
That leaves Bonnaroo fans with a year without the festival, but also with a clear reason for the pause. The 2027 cancellation is tied directly to the condition of the grounds following repeated severe weather, rather than the cancellation of an announced lineup or a single weekend of performances.
Bonnaroo has spent more than two decades building a community around music, camping, and the unique experience of The Farm. After a difficult run of weather disruptions, the festival is taking a year away from the calendar.
That history makes the 2027 pause especially significant for Bonnaroo fans.
The stages will stay quiet in Manchester next summer. The Farm will get the year to recover. Bonnaroo plans to return in 2028, with the hope that the time away will leave its home ready for another chapter.
