Riverhead To Pay Out $1M For Long-Ago-Cancelled Fest

RIVERHEAD, NY (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — This week, Riverhead Town officials discovered it will cost them $1 million not to hold the Field Day Festival, which had been cancelled a week before the show, in June 2003. The show was to have taken place at the town-owned Enterprise Park at Calverton, and featured a line up including Radiohead and the Beastie Boys, according to News Day.

The promoters, Field Day LLC and AEG Live LLC, had gotten permission for the concert from the town but not from Suffolk County, according to News Day. They had put up tents and outdoor seating, and also marked out camping areas for the crowd, expected to reach 50,000 over two days. But Suffolk refused to provide police, and Riverhead could not find the 200 officers needed to ensure safety and control traffic. The county said it did not have enough time to study the concert plans.

The promoters sued Riverhead Town and Riverhead Police Chief David Hegemiller in U.S. District Court, initially claiming a loss of about $3 million, a figure that grew to more than $30 million when they added anticipated profits from the event, according to News Day. On Tuesday night, the town board voted, 5-0, to approve a $1 million settlement in the lawsuit. Officials said the town would pay about $250,000 and its insurance would cover the rest.

— Crystal Lynn Huntoon