OCEAN CITY – Special event organizers face a challenge this week as only months away from Ocean City’s famous event, Sunfest, its prime performer Bret Michaels re-scheduled for next year.
The city announced this week that Michaels will not be performing at this fall’s Sunfest due to a scheduling conflict. Michael’s performance was scheduled for Sept. 24, 2011 and has been rescheduled for Sept. 22, 2012.
The scheduling conflict appeared when American and European booking agents for Michaels discovered he would not be available for Sunfest because he was initially scheduled for a live event in Australia.
Special Events Director John Sullivan said on Wednesday that there is no replacement for Michaels yet.
He referred to the process to find a performer as a Ouija Board, “what we do is…find out who’s available, who’s routed so that you can get them here, whether or not they are willing to come here … money, genre, and if they will fit in here.”
Sullivan added that “we are all disappointed” but it happens in the entertainment business every once in a while. He added that he is not concerned about finding a replacement performer.
“We’ll continue to work it,” he said. “We only have a few weeks to figure it out, and we’ll do it as quickly as we can.”
Ocean City Communications Manager Donna Abbott said that there should be an announcement by next week in regards to Michaels’ replacement for this summer’s Sunfest.
“Bret called to personally make us aware of this issue and to offer suggestions to remedy this oversight, said Ocean City’s agent, Mike Jones. “I was stunned to receive a call from Bret himself explaining, in detail, the reasons for postponing our date. In all my years of concert promotion, this is the only time an artist has called me personally to ensure the date would be rescheduled. I appreciate Bret’s honesty and attention to detail. He truly is a stand up guy."
Michaels told fans, "I want to thank everyone for their understanding and I’m excited to make up this date next year and bring the biggest party that Ocean City, Md. has ever seen in 2012. Get ready for next year, Ocean City is going to rock.”
Mike Jones assistant, Chris Beach, concurred with Abbott and said that there should be an announcement in regards to Michaels replacement performance and said to “hold tight.”