The Festival of Oddities will leave Charlotte next year after protesters disrupted this year’s event, organizers announced Thursday.
The festival’s organizers said in a letter to the city that during this year’s festival, men carrying megaphones attempted to block people from vendor tents, made derogatory statements, including shouting slurs, and attempted to grab some attendees.
They said the police response was inadequate, which they called “disheartening, disappointing, and honestly appalling.”
But they said in a Facebook post that leaving Charlotte is not because of “a few small, sweaty men who are so insignificant they need megaphones to make their voices heard” – or even the initial police response.
Instead, they said it’s because of the lack of any sort of resolution or action plan from city officials for next year’s festival in the weeks since the incident.
“We cannot and will not continue to give that sort of financial support to a municipality that will not prioritize keeping the people we bring into their city safe,” the organizers wrote.
The festival’s organizers threatened to sue the city unless it apologized, guaranteed police presence and city-funded de-escalation teams at next year’s festival and terminated contracts with a local business tied to previous demonstrations.
Organizers have not named a location for next year’s festival but said they have been recruited by communities all around mid-Michigan, citing a $1.2 million financial impact in Charlotte during this year’s festival.
