Rock on the Range to Be Replaced By Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival

2018-09-07

Story by Kevin Toby, photo by Anne Erickson

Say farewell to popular Columbus, Ohio, music festival Rock on the Range

Longstanding hard rock and metal festival Rock on the Range will not return in 2019. The festival — which kicked off in Columbus, Ohio, in 2007 — will be replaced by the first-ever Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival. The new event will take place May 17 through 19 in Columbus’ MAPFRE Stadium.

Sonic Temple will share some similarities with Rock on the Range; notably, the festival will be presented by Danny Wimmer Presents, which handles the rock and metal festivals Louder than Life, Aftershock, Welcome to Rockville, Fort Rock and Chicago Open Air.

“When we started Rock on the Range, there was no other festival in America quite like it but recently it became clear that we had different visions of where to take the festival next,” Wimmer said in a statement. “The city of Columbus and our devoted rock fans deserve a one-of-a-kind, world-class festival, and that is exactly what Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival will bring to MAPFRE Stadium.”

Wimmer added that this change is part of a “series of major steps” being made to “push the U.S. rock festival market forward.” He added that he believes the music festival market is “at a major inflection point” and that the onslaught of music festival “has been good for competition and caused promoters to aggressively pursue expanded entertainment and enhanced experiences.”

“At festivals like Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life, for example, we have been able, and will continue, to rise to the challenge and push the boundaries in food programs, wine and spirits offerings, art installations and all of the other things that fans have come to expect,” he added. “This growth is essential for rock festivals to hold their own against our cousins in other genres,” he added. “We are about to embark on the next generation of rock festivals this spring.”

The 2018 Rock on the Range festival brought headlining performances from Alice in Chains, Tool and Avenged Sevenfold.