Redwest country music festival cancels Saturday night programming after four-hour weather delay

Update • Review: Noah Kahan helps salvage rain-soaked Redwest with lively final set

After a severe weather warning forced thousands of country music fans to evacuate the Utah State Fairpark Saturday evening — the show will not go on.

An hour after their last update, Redwest put out a statement that said they are “unable to continue with today’s programming” — nodding to conditions at the festival site that were “unsafe” in proceeding. The statement also asks fans to stay tuned to social media and their emails for future updates and “next steps.”

This update comes after four hours of fans waiting for a final update.

Post Malone was the scheduled headliner for Saturday night, but it is unclear at this time if he and other acts will be rescheduled.

On Instagram, fans expressed their frustration with the situation in the comments. Many asked for a refund, and noted that the festival deleted their previous post saying they were “optimistic” about the forecast, which was sent out just before 8 p.m.

At 7:30 p.m., the festival announced via their app and social media that a weather delay is still in effect due to lightning in the area. Attendees were previously asked to evacuate and seek shelter just after 5 p.m.

Redwest states on its website that the festival is a “rain or shine” event and that it works with local meteorologists to watch conditions in real time.

The website also said, “In the event of severe weather, such as lightning or high winds, we have safety protocols and evacuation plans in place to temporarily pause or delay programming until it’s safe to continue.”

The Utah State Fairpark is an open air venue. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch through Saturday night in the Beehive State. In southern Utah, the floods are already underway.

Noah Kahan is set to headline on Sunday night, the final day of the homegrown festival.