Guy Fieri — Santa Rosa resident, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” host and donkey sauce empresario — announced earlier this year that he was launching his first music festival. The event, dubbed Flavortown Fest, was to take place in Fieri’s birthplace of Columbus, Ohio, on the first weekend of June. Unfortunately for Fieri fans, the festival will no longer take place.

Over the past few decades, Fieri has had a unique trajectory within the food industry. His Food Network TV show launched in 2007 and became a smash hit, but his bleached-tipped persona served as the antithesis of the small plates ethos of the early 2010s, making him a punchline for Michelin-minded foodies and fodder for one of the meanest restaurant reviews in history. In recent years, however, Fieri’s reputation has seemed to bounce back, largely thanks to a charitable streak a mile long and undeniable dedication to the bit. 

Fieri’s empire has continued to expand over the years, and given the popularity of celebrity-driven festivals, it makes sense for him to launch an event of his own. The choice to hold the event in Columbus, marketed as a homecoming, likely had something to do with Fieri’s plans to open an Italian restaurant there soon. The festival was to host local “DDD”-approved restaurants, as well as musical acts including classic rock revivalists Greta Van Fleet (themselves no stranger to viral reviews), God-thanking country star Kane Brown and Bret Michaels, former frontman of the band Poison.

The cancellation was first reported by local station WCMH-TV in Columbus, which shared a statement from a Flavortown Fest representative who said the event was canceled “due to unforeseen circumstances” and all of the tickets sold, including $155 two-day passes, would be refunded.