Severe weather disrupted activities at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Sunday afternoon, delaying performances across Great Stage Park.
According to the National Weather Service, Nashville, a flood advisory was in effect in Coffee County, where Bonnaroo is hosted, until 6 p.m. local time.
Organizers temporarily delayed performances while conditions were being monitored on The Farm. Updates through the Bonnaroo mobile app, social media channels and on-site messaging urged attendees to follow instructions from festival staff.
The official Bonnaroo Instagram posted shortly after announced cancelations that “Due to storms in the area, performances have been temporarily paused. Please stay away from stages and structures.”
Later they posted, “We expect this storm to continue for the next 2-3 hours with moderate to heavy rain and lightning.”
Centeroo was officially evacuated around 2:15 p.m.
One Bonnaroovian, 22-year-old Alex Smith, attended Bonnaroo last year and experienced the cancellation first-hand — sheltering in place in Outeroo following the delays this year.
“I’m hoping it doesn’t get totally cancelled,” Smith said. “I’m getting Déjà vu.”
Smith said exiting Centeroo after the announcement had him slipping in the mud that was already resurfacing. He said he is most excited for Noah Kahan and hopes that he will still be able to go on.
Another festival-goer staying on the grounds, Lenny Walls, 27, said a few campsites were abandoned and some of her friends were even stuck in an Outeroo bathhouse.
“It’s the name of the game,” Walls said. “You just take whatever weather you get and adapt.”
Walls said despite cancellation in 2025 and fear of cancelation this year, she could still see herself returning to The Farm next year.
“I just want to come camp and have a good time and be around amazing people,” Walls said.
The four-day festival, held June 11-14 at Great Stage Park, features some of the year’s biggest musical acts, including headliners The Strokes, Skrillex, RÜFÜS DU SOL and Noah Kahan.
Acts like Buffalo Traffic Jam and Little Stranger were cut short due to the weather delay. Blondshell posted on its Instagram story at 2:45 p.m. and Aly & AJ posted an Instagram story at 2:55 p.m., both announcing cancelation and apologizing to expectant fans.
The schedule changes affected thousands of fans who traveled from across the country to attend. Bonnaroo is one of the largest multi-day camping festivals with a capacity of 80,000 attendees this year.
As weather conditions improved, organizers posted another update to Instagram, stating that Centeroo will remain closed for the time being while they prepare to reopen and finalize the new schedule.
“It’s going to be a very muddy and LEGENDARY final night on The Farm!” the post said.
Remaining sets from Audrey Hobert to San Holo were shifted forward by one hour to accommodate for the delay with Centeroo reopening around 5:15 p.m.
However, additional delays or cancellations remain possible depending on forecasts and on-site conditions.
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