Willie Nelson's Outlaw Music Festival cancels Oklahoma date for 'unforeseeable circumstances'

The anticipated Oklahoma debut for the Outlaw Music Festival, featuring music icons Willie Nelson & Family and Bob Dylan, has been canceled "due to unforeseeable circumstances."

The touring festival was set to make its Sooner State bow Tuesday, July 1, at the Lucky Star Amphitheater in El Reno. Grammy-winning Americana band The Mavericks and Canadian-born and New Zealand-based country singer-songwriter Tami Neilson also were set to perform on the Oklahoma tour stop.

The cancellation comes after the festival encountered "an extreme weather event" Sunday, June 29, at Thunder Ridge Nature Arena in Ridgedale, Missouri. The severe storms produced heavy rains and high winds, forcing the crowd to evacuate.

Much of the Outlaw Music Festival’s equipment and musicians’ instruments were damaged and waterlogged in the stormy weather, "making their condition difficult to assess in time to accurately and safely use" for the Oklahoma show, according to the cancellation announcement.

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"The potential damage has halted the festival production as they recover and replace what’s necessary for the tour to resume," continues the cancellation notice.

"Blackbird Presents, Lucky Star Amphitheater, and DCF Concerts are disappointed to have to cancel the engagement and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this cancellation may cause."

Refunds for the Oklahoma show will be issued to the point of purchase, according to the announcement. Ticketholders are asked to allow seven to 10 business days for the refund to appear on their credit card statements.

Winds reached up to 80 mph during the June 29, storms in Missouri, reports the Springfield News-Leader, and a 20-year-old woman was reportedly killed in a neighborhood southwest of Springfield after a large tree was blown over on top of her vehicle.

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Taney County Sheriff Brad Daniels told the publication that minor injuries were reported at the Thunder Ridge Nature Arena from tents in the high winds. According to social media posts, the venue was evacuated due to the severe weather at about 5:15 p.m. Sunday, June 29, and that Outlaw Music Festival date was postponed at about 6:50 p.m.

All previously purchased tickets will be honored once the new date is announced for the Missouri show, according to the announcements.

The tour is set to resume Friday, July 4, at the Germania Insurance Amphitheater in Austin, Texas, as Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival converges with the Country Music Hall of Famer's annual 4th of July Picnic and Fireworks.

Willie Nelson sang Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die during two almost sold-out performances at St. Augustine's Amphitheatre Feb. 19-20

What is the Outlaw Music Festival?

Nelson launched the Outlaw Music Festival in 2016 as a one-off event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, before taking the concept on the road the following year. Dylan was among the artists on the inaugural Outlaw fest tour, and the 2016 Nobel Prize winner rejoined the tour this year after the Oscar-nominated 2024 biopic "A Complete Unknown" renewed interest in his music.

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As it celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2025, the Outlaw Music Festival is billed as "a hallmark of authentic Americana music" that has developed into one of North America’s largest annual touring franchises. Still led by Nelson, the Outlaw Music Festival Tour unites music legends with contemporary superstars to celebrate the outlaw spirit and genre-defying music.

The 2025 tour is the largest Outlaw trek to date, with the lineup including Nelson and his family, Dylan, The Mavericks, Neilson, Oklahoma Red Dirt band Turnpike Troubadours, Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Sheryl Crow, The Avett Brothers, Wilco, The Red Clay Strays, Lake Street Dive, Waxahatchee, Charles Wesley Godwin, Lucinda Williams, Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers, Trampled By Turtles, Sierra Hull, Willow Avalon, Waylon Payne, Madeline Edwards, Lily Meola, Myron Elkins and more.

This year's tour launched May 13 at the Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre in Phoenix, Arizona, and is scheduled to make more than 30 stops across 20-plus states before wrapping up Sept. 19 at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin.

For more information, go to https://blackbirdpresents.com/concert/outlaw-music-festival-tour-2025.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Willie Nelson's Outlaw Music Festival cancels Oklahoma show: What to know