City of Little Rock cancels agreement with LITFest partner

Little Rock, Arkansas – Mayor Frank Scott Jr. made the official announcement that LITFest will not be taking place one day after the City of Little Rock ended its contract with Think Rubix.

The festival was scheduled to run from October 7 to October 9 and feature music that would highlight the city while emphasizing technology and economic development.

One vendor expressed how dissatisfied he was.

“Like for vendors. It’s a nightmare. And overall, it’s just disappointing that it was handled this way,” Ti King said.

Ti King of American Business Engine said he had been eager to use LITFest to highlight his marketing firm.

That won’t be able to happen because of the cancellation.

“Just thinking about how this event was planned just gives me anxiety because I know how many months ahead of time, we were trying to nail down our sponsors and vendors,” he said.

Scott said his vision was for LITFest to “celebrate the best of Little Rock through a diverse and inclusive festival” and support the development of the city.
“While LITFest is now canceled for this weekend, it is my desire to see it move forward in the future,” the mayor said.

Scott also said that both the city and Think Rubix “acted legally” and “within the bounds of contracting and procurement.”

He continued to say that the contract was prepared by the city attorney’s office and “was not optimized for the scale and scope of this music festival.”

“I’m disappointed that divisive politics negatively affected the vision and impact of this inaugural festival,” Scott said. “I fully support the artists, vendors, food trucks, and organizations involved in showcasing the best of our City.”

Due to “violations” of the contract, the city gave Think Rubix a 15-day notice to end their agreement on Monday.