When Brian Cohen founded LouFest in 2010, he wanted to put "everything that was great about St. Louis" in one place so people could experience it in one weekend."

He went on to leave the festival and sell his stake in Listen Live Entertainment in 2016, leaving Mike Van Hee and other partners — who had joined Listen Live as minority stakeholders in 2011 — to run the operation, but considered LouFest his legacy to St. Louis. He found out about this year's cancellation "like everyone else," Wednesday morning he said.

"It's devastating on a personal level, but I can't help about the fans and all of the vendors and all of the people who need to be made whole," he said. "That's where the attention really needs to go right now."

Cohen, who moved to Michigan in 2016 and now manages finances for a Democratic Congressional candidate's campaign, said he left the festival to pursue other opportunities, including the 2016 festival Murmuration, which he partnered with Cortex to plan.

"I felt like LouFest was in a position where it was sustainable and it was where I really wanted it to be, and the new opportunity with Cortex really interested me," he said.