The Riverfest music festival held annually on the banks of the Arkansas River in Little Rock will be suspended, the event's board said Tuesday.
"We can no longer deliver the experience that Riverfest fans have come to expect," said DeAnna Korte, the festival's executive director, in the statement. "Rising costs of performers' fees, coupled with a greater number of competing festivals around the country, are the underlying factors leading to this decision."
The festival has been celebrated in Central Arkansas for 40 years, the release stated. At its height, the festival hosted more than 250,000 attendees with an economic footprint of $33 million, the board said.
"For a nonprofit like Riverfest, it's about income vs. expenses," Korte stated. "We are a very small market, and there are larger music festivals surrounding us. ... It's hard for a nonprofit to compete in a growing market of for-profit festivals, which are driving up prices and making it difficult to secure artists."
Korte also cited the event's budget as a reason for shuttering the festival.
"Our entire budget is $2.6 million," Korte stated. "That may sound like a lot, but in the world of music festivals, it is a shoestring budget."