pic.twitter.com/578adyW1Kd— OZY Fest (@OZYfest) July 19, 2019
July 20 (UPI) -- OZY Fest, a two-day music and cultural event set for New York's Central Park, was canceled due to this weekend's anticipated heatwave, organizers said.
"We are so disappointed and sorry this happened," the festival's Twitter feed said Friday. "We are currently working with the city to figure out alternative plans."
However, a message on the OZY website later said, "It was determined that it would be impossible to move the event to an alternate location this weekend."
Ticket-holders -- who paid in advance about $400 apiece for admission -- were advised to look out for emails with details about how to get their money back.
The lineup of celebrity participants included singer-songwriters John Legend, Tove Lo and Miguel, filmmaker Spike Lee, chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Padma Lakshmi and Rachael Ray, talk-show host Trevor Noah, 2020 presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
"Today we're seeing a high of 90 degrees and a heat index of 101 degrees. Tomorrow and Sunday we'll see a high of 97 degrees with a heat index of 111 and 110 respectively. This kind of heat can be dangerous -- keep cool, keep hydrated, keep inside if you can," New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted on Friday.
CNN said about 157 million people in the United States are under heat warnings this weekend.
The New York Post said out-of-towners were disappointed by the last-minute cancellation, but locals were happy the free park wouldn't be closed to the public as planned on what are expected to be scorching hot days.
