Growing financial pressures and uncertainty in the live music industry led City of Cranbrook council to cancel the 2026 edition of Rock the Kootenays – which was announced publicly on December 1.

Since the city announced the cancellation, there have been questions about the level of risk to taxpayers, as the financial numbers provided by the city were only profits and losses.

These festivals require the city to commit nearly $700,000 in taxpayer funds toward upfront costs. That investment must be recovered through ticket sales, vendor fees, and sponsorships before any profit can be made, the city explained in a media release.

With declining ticket sales and lower attendance trending across major music festivals, the risk of using taxpayer dollars to cover those upfront costs has become too high.

“The challenges were very clear during the lead-up to the 2025 festival. One month before the event, we were looking at a potential $200,000 loss of city funds due to slow ticket sales,” said Trevor Thors, Director of Recreation and Culture.

“While the final loss was thankfully limited to just over $14,000, the gap clearly showed us how unpredictable the market has become. Artist fees and production costs continue to rise faster than ticket prices can reasonably keep up.”

Rock the Kootenays earned $77,535 in 2023 and $133,843 in 2024, before falling to a $14,011 loss in 2025.

With economic uncertainty expected to continue, council decided it could not justify the financial risk of proceeding with a 2026 event.

The city will continue to explore future concert and event opportunities.

Lead image: Fans react during Streetheart’s set at Rock the Kootenays 2025. Andrew Mayes/e-KNOW file photo

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