Storm Arthur cancels Cavendish Beach Music Festival Saturday
CBC News | Posted: July 5, 2014 5:56 PM | Last Updated: July 5, 2014
Blake Shelton and Darius Rucker cancel shows
Organizers of the Cavendish Beach Music Festival have cancelled all of Saturday night's performances as post-tropical storm Arthur barrels down on Prince Edward Island.
Earlier in the day, country-music stars Blake Shelton and Darius Rucker were forced to pull out. The festival blamed weather-related travel woes.
"Extreme high winds and concert stages do not mix. This is a sucky situation," Shelton tweeted. "Y'all who are there, please be safe."
Saturday's events were scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m., but they were pushed back until 5 p.m., then finally cancelled around 4:40 p.m.
Organizers say if the winds die down on Sunday, the rest of the festival will continue.
Organizers say single-day ticket holders can refund their ticket. Information is on their website. Weekend pass holders can receive a discount towards next year's event.
Thousands of people from around the Maritimes planned to attend the weekend-long festival.
Arthur started to make its presence known on Prince Edward Island in the early afternoon. About 10,000 Maritime Electric customers were in the dark early Saturday evening.
Police say a number of electrical poles were knocked down by the storm and roads were blocked by fallen trees.
Officials restricted traffic across the Confederation Bridge because of high winds. Certain classes of vehicles are prevented from making the crossing, including motorcycles, trailers and high-sided trucks and buses.
Many sailboat owners could be found at the Charlottetown Yacht Club trying to get their boats out of the water in advance of Arthur's arrival.
The most serious impact of the storm in P.E.I. is not expected until Saturday evening.