Buku Unexpectedly Calls it Quits for Now

$crim of $uicideboy$ at Buku 2022, by Victoria Conway

Is the prospective development of an entertainment district adjacent to the convention center the reason the Spring festival announced on Thursday that it wouldn’t return in 2023?

The Buku Music + Arts Project surprised New Orleanians on Thursday when it announced in a statement, “the current model of BUKU needs to take a break. For a myriad of reasons, we’ve decided that the festival will not take place in March 2023.” Promoters didn’t close the door on the festival entirely, though. “We don’t know exactly what the future will look like—and that’s okay as there is freedom in the unknown—but we know that we will gather again someday, in some form, bursting with creativity and purpose.”

The announcement comes as a surprise on the heels of what appeared to be a successful return last March when Tame Impala and Tyler, The Creator headlined Buku on its largest footprint yet on the grounds surrounding Mardi Gras World. Festival producers Winter Circle Productions declined to comment on why they decided to shutter the festival and what needs to change. For now, the decision means that unless Live Nation and Steve Rehage can break their impasse over Voodoo’s future, New Orleans will go from a city with two rock and dance music-oriented festivals to one with none next year.

One good possible reason for the cancellation is the prospective development of the land Buku occupies. The vacant acreage surrounding Mardi Gras World has long been a part of plans for an expansion of the Morial Convention Center, and those plans are moving closer to coming to fruition. In March, Nola.com reported that the consortium behind the “River District” entertainment-oriented neighborhood hope to break ground in 2023. The story says that the developers planned to begin this year, but that the permitting process has taken longer than expected.

It would be very risky for Winter Circle to book 2023 without knowing if they would have their venue, and the specifics of the Mardi Gras World grounds help to give Buku its character. Its ballroom also created an indoor space that allowed more than one electronic dance music act to perform at one time without dealing with sound bleed from stage to stage. Winter Circle could put on another festival elsewhere, but it wouldn’t be Buku.

My Spilt Milk covered Buku 2022 with reviews of Tame Impala, Tyler, The Creator, and this year’s festival.