New Utah festival headlined by Benson Boone, Sombr suddenly canceled

SALT LAKE CITY — A new two-day Utah music festival that was to debut this fall with a lineup headlined by state resident Benson Boone and other rising pop stars, like Sombr, is not going to take place after all.

The Yours Always Music Festival, which was scheduled to take place at the Utah State Fairpark on Oct. 2-3, was suddenly canceled without much explanation on Friday. The tour website and associated social media also mysteriously vanished over the weekend, while people who got tickets posted on social media that they were told the festival was canceled and that they would be getting refunds.

Boone's website, as of Monday morning, still listed him as performing at the festival on Oct. 2, but the link goes to a website that no longer exists. Sombr seemingly confirmed the cancellation by quietly removing his Oct. 3 headlining date from his tour schedule over the weekend.

An Instagram account dedicated to tour updates about Joshua Bassett, another artist who was supposed to perform at the festival, summarized the situation in a post on Sunday.

"No reason was given for the cancellation apart from 'unforeseen circumstances,' and the cancellation has not been publicly announced (we only know it's canceled since fans have gotten refund emails), and the festival has deleted its social media, website and support emails," it wrote.

Utah State Fairpark officials didn't immediately respond to KSL's request for comment on the abrupt cancellation.

The facility hosted Kilby Block Party earlier this year, which drew in an estimated 90,000 attendees. It's also the home of the Redwest Music Festival, an event that is scheduled to take place in October.

Yours Always Music Festival, billing itself as a "new music experience" coming to Salt Lake City, only announced its lineup in June, per online archives.

Boone, who has a home in Lehi, was supposed to end his current North American tour with the festival, before embarking on stops to Asia and Australia this fall. He notably ended his U.S. tour last year with three performances at the Delta Center.

Sombr, Stephen Sanchez, Labrinth and Bassett were among more than a dozen artists who were also slated to perform at the festival.

"The Yours Always Music Festival is coming to Salt Lake City, bringing a massive lineup of chart-topping pop, indie and alternative powerhouses together for a two-day celebration you won't want to miss," event organizers wrote in a statement at the time. "This stellar lineup is packed with global hitmakers and rising stars."

Its failure to launch isn't a first in the Utah music scene.

Love Letters Music Festival, which aimed to be a three-day festival featuring many rising indie stars, was canceled a little more than a month before it was supposed to debut in Salt Lake City in 2024. Organizers have yet to revive it.

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