GRiZ Places Seven Stars Festival on Hiatus After Two Editions

Why the Festival Is Leaving Oak Ridge Farm

One year after launching Seven Stars Festival, GRiZ has confirmed the event will take a hiatus as organizers search for a new venue. The festival held two editions at Oak Ridge Farm in Virginia, debuting in 2025 and returning in October 2026, but will not return to the property following renewed scrutiny of its history.

GRiZ said he learned the full extent of the property's past only days before making the announcement. Records from the estate document 124 enslaved people on the property during the 1800s. William Porcher Miles, a former Confederate politician connected to the design of the Confederate battle flag, later owned the estate.

The producer explained that some members of his team had spoken with educators from the University of Virginia about the property's history before the festival launched, but that information never reached him. He accepted responsibility for the breakdown in communication and apologized to fans, artists, and members of the community affected by the decision to hold the festival there.

What Seven Stars Built in Two Years

Across both editions, Seven Stars Festival gave GRiZ the chance to perform three separate sets each weekend. The lineups brought together artists including Subtronics, Of The Trees, Tape B, Daily Bread, LSDREAM, CloZee, Ganja White Night, G Jones, and ALLEYCVT, while camping, workshops, and smaller activities filled the time between sets. More than 20,000 people attended the debut edition in 2025.

By 2026, the festival had added features like Wubski's Valley Diner, which operated as a functioning diner throughout the weekend. Organizers also maintained ties with the surrounding Nelson County community. Following the first edition, GRiZ Presents, 100x Presents, Lockn' Farm, and Oak Ridge Farm pledged $30,000 to Nelson County Public Schools, while surplus food went to the Nelson County Pantry.

The Search for a New Location

GRiZ made it clear that the team plans to find another location before moving ahead with the festival again, though no timeline has been announced. That leaves the next edition dependent on finding a venue that can support the scale of the event while fitting the community values that have been part of Seven Stars since its launch.

For fans who had already made the festival an annual trip, the wait for a third edition could be longer than expected. The next edition will begin somewhere new, with the search for that location determining when Seven Stars can return.