The Lovers & Friends Festival — scheduled for today and featuring headlining sets by Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, and Mary J. Blige — has been canceled due to expected extreme weather in the Las Vegas area.
On Friday night, hours before the one-day festival was set to get underway, organizers announced on social media that the fest was off because of “dangerous weather” in Saturday’s forecast.
“Lovers & Friends Festival organizers have been monitoring the weather for several days and proactively preparing for a windy Saturday,” organizers said in a statement.
“However, the National Weather Service has now issued a High Wind Warning, including dangerous 30-35 mph sustained winds with gusts potentially more than 60 mph. Following advice from the National Weather Service and in consultation with local public officials, we must make the safest decision for our fans, artists, and staff, and cancel tomorrow’s Lovers & Friends Festival.”
Organizers acknowledged how disappointed the last-minute cancellation was, especially to those who traveled to Las Vegas and booked hotel rooms in order to attend the festival. “This was an incredibly heartbreaking decision to make as we are aware that fans have traveled from all over the world to enjoy this incredible lineup of superstars and have been looking forward to this event for several months,” organizers said. “We’ve worked hard to create an amazing event for you, and we are just as disappointed as you are.”
The Lovers & Friends festival boasted a mammoth lineup that — in addition to the headliners — also included Lil Wayne performing Tha Carter III, the Backstreet Boys, Gwen Stefani, Usher performing Confessions, Nas, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Nelly Furtado, and dozens more at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds.
The 2024 iteration of the fest got off to a shaky start when it initially announced that Blige was among the artists, only for the singer to deny that she would perform; a few days later — and after her name was moved up on the lineup — Blige confirmed her participation.
Lovers & Friends has been plagued by hiccups since its inception in 2020. In 2023, Lil Jon considered a potential lawsuit against Live Nation, which promotes the Vegas event, over the festival using the same name as his 2004 hit with Ludacris and Usher, “Lovers & Friends.” In 2022, a false alarm gun scare at the festival led to crowd panic that left three attendees hospitalized with minor injuries.
When the first-ever Lovers & Friends lineup was announced in 2020, several singers and rappers publicly claimed that they were unaware of their own involvement in the event, stating that they had never been notified about the festival and hadn’t received a deposit payment, while others noted dissatisfaction with the lineup itself.
The past issues made some festival-goers apprehensive about the status of this year’s fest, which has now been canceled. Organizers pledged that ticket holders would be refunded within 30 days.