Organizer Eric Deters indicated that he'd expected around 100 people to buy VIP entry for Freedom Fest.
Freedom Fest, a conservative festival that takes place in the Cincinnati area, has been canceled this year after just six people bought VIP tickets, according to organizer Eric Deters.
Deters shared in a Facebook Live on Monday (Sept. 21) that he’d pulled the plug on the 2026 event, explaining that he’d originally “put it together with the game plan and the idea that I could pay for it with VIP sales of $1,000 from these 100 people that I interact with on a regular basis,” The Cincinnatti Enquirer reports.
Those prospective VIP customers didn’t come through as expected, about which Deters apparently added, “I want to tell you something: Rich people, as a whole, suck.”
A video of the livestream appears to have been deleted from Deters’ profile, but in a later Facebook livestream, he slammed media coverage of the cancelation and stressed that his decision was not for lack of interest from the general public. “The MAGA supporters always support this event, always turn out,” he said. “It would’ve been that same way this time. The issue was simply paying for the damn event, because I make it free.”
Freedom Fest was scheduled to take place at Deters’ farm in Northern Kentucky, just 25 miles away from Cincinnati, on Saturday (Sept. 26). This year’s lineup included Kid Rock and U.S. Rep. James Comer, while past years have featured Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Candace Owens, according to Cincinnati Enquirer.
