Live Nation: River's Edge Music Festival on hiatus in 2013

Photo by Erik Hess

Dave Matthews at River's Edge 2012.

The River's Edge Music Festival will not be back in 2013, Live Nation officials say. The $4.8 million, two-day event on St. Paul's Harriet Island debuted last June with headliners Dave Matthews Band and Tool, as well as the Flaming Lips, Scissor Sisters, Diplo, and several others spread over multiple stages.

According to reports, this is a hiatus as opposed to a full-on cancellation. The event brought live music back to the popular festival ground near St. Paul after Taste of Minnesota went bankrupt in 2010, and though attendance was far from peak, showed a hint of what could be.

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According to a report in Star Tribune, expenses and artists' availability spurred the decision to take the year off. "So River's Edge is on hiatus this year," said Mark Campana, co-president of Live Nation North America. "Hopefully, we can come back next year."

The city of St. Paul had received a five-year commitment from Live Nation, so this was definitely not the expected step in this developing relationship with the city. Research on the attendees showed that most were right from the Twin Cities, and expected numbers from surrounding states weren't there.

For the future, Live Nation wants to integrate EDM into the slate for future River's Edge installments, and according to the Star Tribune, this includes "how to effectively utilize Raspberry Island." Gimme Noise spent a good amount of time at each stage, and it seems that effectively utilizing each spot would require either a) programming something consistent to keep people satisfied with staying in one spot, or b) improving the experience in between the long walk from Raspberry Island to the rest of the grounds.

Photo by Erik Hess

Diplo at Raspberry Island at River's Edge 2012.

A report in the Pioneer Press added comment from Brad Meyer, the St. Paul parks and recreation public service manager. Meyer said the dates reserved for River's Edge at Harriet Island in 2013 are no longer reserved for that event.

Reports surrounding the 2013 edition of River's Edge suggested that it would be expanded to two weekends to include a country slate, but that's not the case now. As we learn more about this story, we will update this posting.