MAGA Festival Boss Blasts 'Woke' Media After Kid Rock Event Collapses Over Poor VIP Ticket Sales

Eric Deters, 63, cancelled his Patriots Day Freedom Fest just five days before it was due to take place after selling only six of roughly 100 $1,000 (£750) VIP tickets, then accused what he called the 'woke freaking media' of unfairly portraying him and his decision.

Deters said he, not Kid Rock, pulled the plug on the event at his Morning View farm, which had been scheduled for Saturday, 26 September. He had planned to keep general admission free and to fund the festival through VIP sales to people he regularly interacted with and believed had money. According to reporting by Consequence, the event was cancelled after selling just six VIP tickets in total.

VIP Sales Collapse Sinks Festival Plan

Deters said the failure of the people he had expected to buy the premium packages 'really p—ed me off', and that he did not intend to attempt to stage Freedom Fest again. According to reporting by the Daily Beast, only six of the anticipated VIP purchases materialised, leaving Deters without the revenue he had planned to use to cover the event's costs.

The shortfall meant the festival's central funding model, with free general admission underwritten by a small number of high-value VIP sales, did not hold up in practice. The six-ticket figure comes from Deters' own account and has not been independently verified.

Deters also dismissed online critics as 'loser trollers', questioning whether they had achieved comparable accomplishments, citing producing music, writing a book, serving as president or completing a real estate deal. He portrayed the criticism he received as part of what he described as hostile media treatment of Trump supporters, comparing it with the coverage he said Donald Trump himself receives.

Kid Rock's Late Addition and Limited Role

Deters appeared keen to separate Kid Rock from the financial problems surrounding Freedom Fest, stressing that the musician had not cancelled the event and had been booked to speak rather than perform.

A representative for Kid Rock previously told the Daily Beast that the musician had been added to the event's line-up five days before its cancellation and 'has no other ties to the event'. The timing suggests Kid Rock's involvement was relatively recent, although the available reporting does not establish why he was added.

The event's own promotional material, published on the Patriots Day Freedom Fest website, had listed Kid Rock among its scheduled speakers and participants, while current reporting from Consequence indicates he was due to have a speaking role rather than a performing one at the festival, which had been organised by Deters at his Morning View property.

Local outlet LINK nky, which first reported the cancellation, confirmed that Deters had informed attendees and ticket-holders of the decision directly, citing the VIP shortfall as the reason for calling off the event.

Questions Over Finances and Media Backlash

What is clear is that Deters cancelled the event after saying its VIP-ticket revenue fell well short of the amount he had expected to raise. He has also said he does not plan to organise the festival again.

Deters' claim that only six VIP tickets had been sold has not been independently verified, and no independent ticket-sales data has been publicly cited in the reporting reviewed for this article. The episode leaves unanswered questions about the festival's original financial planning and about why Kid Rock was added to the bill so close to the cancellation date, though Deters has been consistent in maintaining that responsibility for the outcome rests with him alone.