Lake Murray floating music festival canceled for second-straight year

Plans to come back for one more year in 2024

Posted 5/26/23

One of Lake Murray’s two floating music festivals is on hold for a second year.

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Lake Murray floating music festival canceled for second-straight year

Plans to come back for one more year in 2024

Posted

One of Lake Murray’s two floating music festivals is on hold for a second year.

Organizer Doug Gainey confirmed to the Chronicle that the Drift Jam Flotilla Music Festival, set to return June 3 after taking 2022 off, is now canceled for 2023.

“We had a major sponsor pull out of their financial commitment on the day of our deadline last week,” he said, adding that he’s disappointed “we're having to deal with [this] and actually cancel the event over it, but so it goes.“

A statement announcing the cancellation states that organizers exhausted all possible avenues to continue with the festival and apologizes for the timing, eight days before the event was supposed to take place.

Last year, the promoter’s Doug Gainey Productions took the year off, putting on hold its full portfolio of South Carolina festivals, which has grown in recent years.

Gainey started the Land Jam country music festival in Lugoff in 2020 and a Santee edition of Drift Jam on Lake Marion in 2021. Before calling off his 2022 events, he had announced intentions to throw a 3 Rivers Float Fest in the waterways that converge between Lexington and Richland counties, as well as a Jet Jam intended to feature “live music on a chartered jumbo jet” to Las Vegas and more music once attendees arrived.

The Lake Murray Drift Jam was set to, as it always has, take place on a floating stage parked along the shore of Spence Island, with boaters being able to pull up and watch bands performing on the water. Attendance is free, though the festival does sell tickets to access VIP observation areas.

Country artists Rut Spence and Pat Cooper had been announced as playing the 2023 Drift Jam.

Like many events, Drift Jam canceled in 2020, but came back in June 2021, joining Land Jam in November and its sister floating party on Lake Marion in August as Gainey put on three festivals in one year.

Gainey said he intends to come back next year and do Drift Jam one more time.

“Next year will be the 10th anniversary of Drift Jam and will be the last ... I've had enough,” he said. “I'm planning to bring a national headlining artist as well as several other surprises that I've been wanting to incorporate into the event over the years.”

Drift Jam's announcement notes that next year's festival is slated for June 1.

The lake’s other floating music festival, Reggaetronic, took place last year and is set to return for 2023 on June 17, also taking place along the shore of Spence Island.

drift jam flotilla music festival, lake murray concert, doug gainey productions, spence island

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