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The future of the Pemberton Festival is unclear, as concert organizers have announced they are cancelling the festival for the second-straight year.

“For the time being, we have put plans to stage the next Pemberton Festival on hold while we work with local officials on issues which will make the festival financially feasible for us,” reads a statement from festival organizer Live Nation.

“It's obviously disappointing for the community,” says Pemberton Mayor Jordan Sturdy, who says the key challenges for Live Nation are policing costs and liquor licensing. “Those are issues [the local government doesn't] have any discretion on,” said Mr. Sturdy, who is working to try to bring the festival back.

The inaugural festival in July, 2008, took over the small town of 2200 just north of Whistler, B.C. Over three days, some 40,000 people turned out to see musical giants such as Coldplay, Jay-Z and The Tragically Hip perform outdoors in the stunning farmland valley. While the music was a hit, there were some major problems, notably severe traffic snarls and insufficient garbage collection.

Still, organizers seemed pleased with the results at the time. “I feel pretty good that we'll be coming back to Pemberton next year,” Live Nation President Shane Bourbonnais said on the last day of the festival.

They didn't. The festival was cancelled in 2009, Live Nation saying the necessary permits were approved too late in the year for them to effectively book talent. “We are moving forward and focusing on 2010,” the company said in a statement at the time.

Live Nation is not writing the festival off for good, but is remaining vague about its plans. Tuesday's statement concludes: “We hope that we will be able to bring back the Festival to Pemberton at some point in the future.”