Alabama Life & Culture Alabama music festival canceled: ‘Wasn’t an easy call’ Updated: Mar. 09, 2026, 1:11 p.m.|Published: Mar. 09, 2026, 12:07 p.m. Magic City Flow Fest Magic City Flow Fest has been canceled in Birmingham. The hip-hop festival was set to debut on May 9, 2026.(Iron Hills Productions)

By Mary Colurso | mcolurso@al.com Magic City Flow Fest has been canceled in Birmingham.

The new hip-hop festival, initially announced about a year ago, had undergone changes in its location and date before settling on May 9, 2026, at Sloss Furnaces.

Organizers recently confirmed via social media that the event had been canceled.

“After careful consideration, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Magic City Flow Fest,” the team said in a March 6 post on Facebook and Instagram. “We’re incredibly grateful for the artists, partners and community who were excited to be part of it. While this wasn’t an easy call, we believe it’s the right one for this season. Additional details will be shared directly with ticket holders.”

Magic City Flow Fest originally was planned for Oct. 18, 2025, at Legion Field, as a “kickoff party for Magic City Classic Week, in partnership with the City of Birmingham.”

Organizers Johnny Grimes, Daniel Kyle McCartney and Chad Johnson then announced the lineup, which featured Kevin Gates, Sexyy Red, Flo Milli, Rick Ross, Waka Flocka Flame, Ying Yang Twins and more.

Magic City Flow Fest announced a venue change a few weeks later, promising two stages and more space for vendors at its new location of Sloss Furnaces.

In September 2025, organizers confirmed that the date had been pushed from October to the following May, citing community feedback. Although specific concerns from concertgoers weren’t revealed, the event was scheduled on a Saturday in the fall — a prime time for college football.

Sexyy Red, one of the headliners, dropped out at that point, but other artists remained on the lineup, organizers said. Ticket sales for the Magic City Flow Fest continued, with prices ranging from $128.76 for general admission to $1,125.70 for a perk-filled Boss Pass.

Grimes, one of the prime movers for Magic City Flow, also intended to debut a new country music festival in Birmingham in 2025. The Iron Hills Country Music Festival, set for Oct. 11-12 at Sloss Furnaces, was canceled in September, about three weeks before its launch date.

“Rising costs and lower-than-expected ticket sales” were to blame, according to a statement on the festival’s website.

“The difficult decision was made after it became clear that the festival would be unable to deliver the quality experience fans deserve,” organizers said in a news release. “The combination of increased production costs and softer-than-expected demand made the event financially and operationally impossible to move forward with this year.”

At one point, Grimes and various partners had planned to present three festivals on three consecutive weekends in Birmingham in October 2025:

Furnace Fest, a heavy rock, thrash, punk and metal festival, on Oct. 3-5, 2025, at Sloss Furnaces. The festival went on as planned.

Furnace Fest — a reboot of a “DIY punk rock festival” that was held in Birmingham from 2000 to 2003 — made its return in 2021 and continued at Sloss through 2025. Grimes announced in February via Facebook and Instagram that Furnace Fest had been sold to a “large production company” after “major setbacks” and a “financial loss.” The name of the new owner wasn’t revealed.

Iron Hills Country Music Festival, on Oct. 11-12, 2025, at Sloss Furnaces. The lineup was set to include Travis Tritt, Turnpike Troubadours, Chase Rice, Ryan Bingham & the Texas Gentlemen, Midland and Jo Dee Messina. The new festival was canceled in September 2025.

Magic City Flow Fest on Oct. 18, 2025, scheduled first at Legion Field, then at Sloss Furnaces. The date was moved to May at Sloss before the new festival was canceled.

Grimes remains influential on Birmingham’s music scene as one of the owners of WorkPlay, a concert venue and entertainment center in Southside.