Earlier today, the THING Festival announced via social media that it had “made the very difficult decision” to cancel its August 16 date, which had been “specially curated to showcase some of music’s most exceptional Latinx and Spanish-language artists.”
The statement read, “Community safety concerns have greatly reduced ticket sales, and the uncertainty about artists’ ability to secure the necessary visas has led to our decision. We stand with our broader community and remain committed to prioritizing attendee and artist safety, and to ensure our events are a positive and memorable arts experience. We want to sincerely thank the artists, our community partners and sponsors, and everyone behind the scenes who worked tirelessly to bring this unique event to life.” The organization also noted that all August 16 ticket holders should expect to see refunds returned to their original forms of payment within the next seven to 10 business days.
THING was founded in 2019 and has traditionally been a three-day-long festival in the past, but this year, the organization opted for a new format with a series of events set to take place at Remlinger Farms in Carnation, Washington across four weekends in August. Chilean-Mexican pop singer Mon Laferte was slated to headline the August 16 lineup, along with Yahritza y Su Esencia, Thee Sinseers, Rubén Albarrán, Angélica Garcia, Terror/Cactus and Pahua, and Lucia Flors-Wiseman.
The festival isn’t the first event to be called off recently under similar circumstances. In June, the Duwamish River Community Coalition canceled the Duwamish River Festival in the South Park neighborhood due to speculation that ICE might target it, and earlier this month, the Burien nonprofit Joyas Mestizas announced that they would cancel the 2025 Pacific Northwest Folklórico Festival, writing, “We are angry at the ICE raids and racist immigration policies that tear families apart, and in canceling our event we commit to prioritizing the safety of our community. As a community organization born from the 20th-century freedom movements, Joyas Mestizas not only understands the arts as essential to pushing against oppression but recognizes folklorico’s continued existence as a testament to our coming together. While we stand firm in our origins, the urgency of our community’s need for safety and security demands immediate action.”
Just earlier this week, Fernando Rocha, the theater manager at Juanita High School was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. KUOW reported last week that King County passed a resolution on Tuesday, July 15, that would support protections for immigrants and prevent county agencies from sharing sensitive data that could lead to immigrant enforcement.
We’ve reached out to THING Festival’s organizers for comment and will update this article if we hear back.
As always, fuck ICE.
