June 11, 2003

Another Concert on Long Island Airfield Is Canceled

he week after permit problems forced a major outdoor music festival to be moved to Giants Stadium from a former airfield on the East End of Long Island, organizers yesterday canceled a three-day concert that had been scheduled at the same site in August.

The August concert, Bonnaroo NE, was expected to draw 75,000 fans with performances by Bob Dylan, the Dead, Tom Petty and others.

In a written statement, Bonnaroo's organizers referred to the fate of last weekend's Field Day Music Festival. Suffolk County denied the festival a mass-gathering permit, saying its organizers had failed to line up enough police officers to manage the crowds and traffic. The festival's organizers and some officials in the town of Riverhead, the site of the field, have accused the county of sabotaging the concerts.

Field Day's organizers changed their plans last Wednesday, two days before the gates had been scheduled to open at the Riverhead site. But Bonnaroo NE, scheduled for Aug. 8-10, will simply not take place at all, yesterday's statement read.

"Planning for an event of such magnitude as Bonnaroo NE requires the highest level of cooperation and commitment from everyone involved," it read. "We have determined that it would be irresponsible to the artists, to the festivalgoers, to citizens in the community, and to ourselves to move ahead with our plans given the circumstances that now exist."

Robert F. Kozakiewicz, the Riverhead town supervisor, said earlier this year that he hoped the concerts would lift Riverhead's economy and public image.

Yesterday, he said he was saddened by Bonnaroo's decision but respected it.