WEST LOOP — One week before it was set to take place in a new venue, organizers of rapper/actor Common's AAHH! Fest canceled the event.
Instead, the festival will return in 2018 at a retooled experience "that goes far beyond an outdoor music event," general manager Tamara Brown said in a statement posted on Twitter, Facebook and the festival's website on Thursday.
"To achieve the scale of impact and service truly needed in Chicago, we are retooling this initiative," Brown said. "We look forward to announcing our new strategic alliances and year-round plans to create dynamic community engagement in 2018."
The announcement said the fest would return Sept. 15, 2018.
While Brown promised "more details to follow," the statement gave no information on how fans could receive refunds for tickets they'd already purchased.
Last year, major hip-hop, R&B and rap acts headlined the festival, with J. Cole, The Roots, Vic Mensa, Jeremih and Sir the Baptist performing along with Common.
The cancellation might not come as a surprise to those who have carefully watched for information on this year's event. Both the Twitter and Facebook accounts have posted sparsely in the past year, with almost no details on the line-up or other aspects of the event. The fest's website is still selling 2016 merchandise.
AAHH! Fest, which Common launched in 2014, was originally expected to take place in Woodlawn's Jackson Park but was moved to Union Park for its 2014 debut.
After a one-year hiatus, the festival made a noisy return in 2016 and was readying for its third year next weekend.
AAHH! Fest isn't the only Chicago festival with failure-to-launch syndrome; the anti-violence Get In It Music Fest was supposed to debut Saturday at Guaranteed Rate Field but was abruptly canceled last week.
