After two consecutive years of narrowly avoiding cancelation, the Fort Reno summer concert series appears to be in jeopardy again. In an email to Washingtonian, a National Park Service spokesperson writes that, as of Tuesday, the agency had not yet received a permit application for this year’s shows from Amanda MacKaye, who has organized the shows for more than a decade.
Although MacKaye waited until late June last year to announce the series was in financial trouble due to security costs—which gives her a little over a month to clear the air—there are other signs that suggest Fort Reno isn’t happening in 2016.
For one, there hasn’t been a call for music submissions, which last year began in March.
It’s pretty clear that Fort Reno is fucked this year. Let’s find alternate spaces for free Mon/Thurs concerts this summer. Who’s in? Ideas?
— Jack on Fire (@jackonfiredc) May 12, 2016
@wcp_arts Um, is Fort Reno happening? Applications for bands usually happen in March. https://t.co/F2KVURLgv9 hasn’t been updated since 2015
— Jeremy Padow (@peremyjadow) May 6, 2016
The website hasn’t been updated either—it still says “Fort Reno 2015” at the top of the page, an unsettling premonition for fans of the music series, which has been held every summer at the park in upper Northwest DC since 1968.
Last year, MacKaye, who did not respond to questions about Fort Reno’s status or future, asked the public for help in covering the $2,460—$66 per officer, though it eventually rose to $70—it would cost to maintain lawful park security for shows. Whether or not DC music fans will be called upon again to save Fort Reno in 2016 remains to be seen.
UPDATE, May 13:
