Have you heard? Freedom Fest, billed the “greatest libertarian show on earth,” is officially cancelled. On Monday morning, event organizer and former gubernatorial candidate Eric Deters ranted in a now-deleted video on Facebook that “the greatest MAGA event” would not be returning this year. And we’re as surprised as anyone to hear that Kid Rock lacked the star power and sentient fanbase to successfully headline the festival.
Deters hosted the first Patriots Day Freedom Fest on his Kentucky farm in 2022, featuring Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Candace Owens. His career in event planning took a short break in 2023 so he could focus on losing a congressional election, but he returned the following year to draw thousands.
A few hours after posting his original statement, Deters returned to Facebook to correct the media’s mischaracterization of the failure of the festival. Specifically, he clarified that he had been relying on VIP ticket purchases, running around $1,000, to fund the event while general entrants attended for free. Unfortunately, Deters checked his ticket sales on Monday morning to find only six VIPs registered. He was baffled that his community—people he had shown up tirelessly and done numerous favors for!—did not want to drop $1,000 on his nationalist field day.
On his newer video, Deters remained normal and proportionate, stating—as a normal and proportionate person does—“None of these people will ever, ever, ever get a favor from me again, ever. Not only will they never get a favor from me again, they do not have Bulldog immunity.” (Bulldog is Deters’ nickname.) Devastating. On top of it all, no one is going to get to hear Kid Rock’s 2008 classic “All Summer Long” live, at their fair weather friend’s farm. The bad news! It just keeps coming!
Not only is Freedom Fest 2026 a bust, Deters confirmed that he is done putting on this event for good. Although he is sorry to disappoint his attendees, he’s relieved to no longer be carrying this organizational burden. This is shocking to hear, as he has made it look so easy.
