Musicians drop Roswell UFO Festival shows

Earlier this month, I blogged about how Roswell may be pulling the funding for its annual UFO festival. Well, I guess some of the “entertainers” who were supposed to appear at this year’s event caught wind of this and promptly pulled out. News West 9 explains:

ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) – Organizers of the Roswell UFO Festival say musicians Billy Ray Cyrus and Phil Vassar have canceled plans to perform this year.

Festival chairwoman Renee Roach blames recent publicity about a city decision to review the allocation of lodger’s tax funds to fund future UFO festivals.

Roach says calls have come in from all over the world. Prospective visitors are asking if this year’s event is still on.

It is. The festival runs June 30 through July 5.

Mayor Del Jurney said in May that city officials wanted to make sure the funds were being spent appropriately. Now, Jurney says he’s surprised by the reaction. He says he never told anyone the city doesn’t want to hold the festival.

The UFO Festival Committee has a $150,000 budget for this summer’s event.

Wow. Billy Ray Cyrus AND Phil Vassar. What a blow to the UFO festival. I’m sure attendees will be crushed to learn that such luminaries as Phil “Who?” Vassar and Hannah Montana’s coattail-riding dad will not be there to serenade them with awful music. I guess you’d have to be from another planet to not be sick of “Achy Breaky Heart.”