A weekend music festival planned at Atlanta Motor Speedway has been canceled.
The Heroes Music Fest started Thursday and was supposed to continue through Sunday. But an investor pulled out of the project Friday morning, the festival's founder said in a statement.
"In a contract agreement, we aligned with an investor who demonstrated what we thought was the same passion and commitment, and we are just as surprised and devastated as the artists, vendors, and all involved, that our investor elected to walk away from the project early this morning," Charles DeJournett said.
DeJournett, a 10-year veteran of U.S. Air Force and member of the 116th Air National Guard, planned the event to honor service men and women on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.
Artists that had been scheduled to perform include Delbert McClinton, T. Graham Brown and Sponge, according to the festival's website.
Friends Tim Harkin and Steve Nelson told the AJC they had planned the ultimate "guy" weekend around the event. On Thursday, Harkin, of Tampa, drove to Warner Robins to pick up Nelson, who said he took two days off work and rented a camper for the weekend.
"We were going to listen to music, have some drinks and not worry about driving," Nelson said.
When the two arrived at the speedway Thursday afternoon, they were shocked to see how few people were there.
"It was like a ghost town," Harkin said.
Nelson said an AMS staff member drove through the camping area Friday morning and told him the rest of the weekend's events wouldn't be happening. Friday afternoon, Harkin and Nelson were packing to return home, along with all of the food and grilling supplies they brought.
"Due to circumstances beyond the control of Atlanta Motor Speedway, the promoter for the Heroes Music Festival canceled the show for this weekend," states a sign posted on the ticket center.
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