Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Last year, the annual ‘Furnace Fest’ faced some difficulties, prompting organizers to issue last-minute special pricing offers in an effort to encourage concertgoers to attend, as per theprp. These measures were taken to avoid canceling the event altogether. Although they helped, the festival still operated at a loss, resulting in significant debt for the organizers. Consequently, an unidentified production company was approached and agreed to settle the debts in exchange for full rights to the festival. As a result, while Furnace Fest is confirmed to return in 2026, it will do so under new ownership. Johnny Grimes, the festival’s managing partner, shared details about the situation on social media on February 2nd.
Hey, everyone. Johnny here. I want to take a few minutes to share something important with you and do it with the same honesty and heart that this community has always shown me. First, I want to say thank you. The past five Furnace Fests have been some of the most meaningful experiences of my life. The friendships that were made will go down as the best part of Furnace Fest for me, hands down. Now, all the crowd surfing and stage diving and singalongs were special, too. But the community will always be the greatest accomplishment of Furnace Fest.
When we brought Furnace Fest back, we had no idea that it would grow into such a powerful and beautiful thing. Now, every year came with its own set of challenges. Every year was difficult, but every year also came with moments I’ll never forget. Like watching bands reunite, whether it was Stretch Arm Strong and Beloved in 2021, or seeing Bane and Pennywise co-headline the main stage, or seeing SPEED in the shed, or seeing Austin slam somebody through a table during the Haywire set.
I mean, these are all memories I will never, never forget. Seeing people engaged and married at Furnace Fest. So cool. I mean, it’s so amazing. And those are things I’ll never forget.
Now, this year came with some major setbacks, setbacks that were bigger than anything we had faced before. The financial loss was significant, and we were not able to cover the remaining artist’s guarantees that we had. And that broke our hearts. This festival has always been built on trust and integrity. We always shown up for the people who make Furnace Fest so special.
And so Chad and I knew that we had to fix it. No matter what it took, we were going to have to fix this. We approached a large production company. I’m sure they’re going to make an announcement soon, but we asked them to step in and help make that happen, and they did so. They paid the remaining artist’s balances, and for that, we are super thankful.
But the sad reality in all of this is that in order for that to happen, we had to hand over Furnace Fest completely. All of it. It was the only path forward. Now, my hope was that we would still be a part of Furnace Fest in some capacity, but it’s become clear that we will not be involved moving forward.
While this is hard to accept, while this is heartbreaking in many ways, I want to focus on gratitude. I’m thankful for every person who supported this festival, every band who played, every volunteer, every crew member, every fan who chose to spend a weekend with us in Birmingham, Alabama in September or October at Sloss Furnace. So I’m grateful and I’m thankful. And I also want to wish this new company, the very best as they take the Furnace Fest name and carry it into its next chapter.
My hope is to protect the spirit in which made this community so special and then find new ways to grow it. But as for me, I walk away proud of what we’ve built, proud of the music that we’ve celebrated, proud of the community that came alive every year. And I’m proud of the love and energy all of you have poured into this amazing festival and community.
Thank you for letting me be a part of your life. Thank you for believing in this crazy dream. And thank you for every moment we’ve shared at Furnace Fest. I’m grateful for you all. I’m thankful for our shared past, our shared history.
I look forward to our shared future. But with all that said, I love you, and I’ll see you around.
