OZY Fest Canceled Due To Heat Wave, Mayor Says

CENTRAL PARK, NY — Ozy Fest, a two-day festival featuring performances and speakers in Central Park, will be canceled due to the heat wave affecting New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday.

The festival was going to take over the entirety of Central Park's Great Lawn for programming that would last all day on Saturday and Sunday. Headliners at the festival, in its fourth year, include John Legend, Spike Lee and Megan Rapinoe and New York Yankee star Alex Rodriguez.

De Blasio also announced that the New York City Triathlon will be canceled.

"Two updates on specific major events. We have instructed that the triathlon and the OZY fest be canceled given the heat conditions," de Blasio said during a Friday update on the weather.

The mayor declared a heat emergency starting Friday morning, which requires large office buildings to set their thermostats to 78 degrees or higher in an effort to conserve energy. High temperatures Saturday and Sunday will be in the high 90s, and the heat index will rise past 110 on both days, de Blasio said.

Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver said Friday that the city has the power to cancel events held in city parks if the heat index rises above 105 degrees. Silver said that all other major events in parks throughout the city will also be canceled.

"For the safety of both the public, for the performers and for our responders who would be on the scene, we felt it was the best thing to do was to cancel the event, as well as all outdoor major events that are occurring in our parks over the weekend," Silver said.

Ozy Fest organizers said in a statement that all ticket holders will receive an email detailing an "alternate arrangement" sometime before Saturday.

"We apologize for the inconvenience and are doing everything we can to communicate with you as quickly and efficiently as possible," a rep for Ozy Fest said in a statement.