The Charity Pros Request Seminole Tribe of Florida To Waive Immunity Due To Festival Cancellation

Local Charity Suffers $3M Loss Due to Last Minute Cancellation of Harvest Nights Music Festival

FORT MYERS, FL, UNITED STATES, April 25, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The highly anticipated Harvest Nights Charity Music Festival, set to be Southwest Florida’s biggest music event of the year, was abruptly canceled just days before it was scheduled to begin. The three-day festival, planned for January 10–12, 2025, at the John Jimmie Rodeo Grounds on the Seminole Reservation in Immokalee, Florida, was expected to draw thousands, featuring headline performances by Def Leppard, Brad Paisley, and Train.

The Charity Pros, a Fort Myers-based nonprofit, reports that the cancellation has resulted in an estimated $3 million in losses to the organization. “The Charity Pros were given no choice by the Seminole Tribe except to cancel the Harvest Nights Charity Music Festival,” said Megan Maloney, Founder and President of the organization. The Charity Pros say that they were contacted the morning of January 6, just hours before the set-up of the festival was to begin. “We were notified by email and phone, directly from the Tribes’ Contract Administrator, stating that the Tribes’ legal department had failed to complete their final lease review,” says Maloney. “We were told to change the dates and cancel the event.”

“Changing the dates in the final hours was a clear impossibility for the bands, vendors, sponsors, and fans,” explained Maloney. “We had repeatedly requested a copy of the review for months to obtain special event cancelation insurance, always with a response that it was coming soon. We were never advised that the event would be canceled if the Tribe didn’t complete their work.”

The massive fundraiser event, supporting local Immokalee and Collier County nonprofits, was to feature fourteen national acts, a festival entertainment village, a food truck rally, dozens of retail vendors, and an on-site campground. The Charity Pros say they had provided over two thousand complimentary tickets per day to local veterans, first responders, health care workers, and teachers to honor their local service to the community.

The Charity Pros say the sudden shutdown followed a series of troubling events with the Tribe in the previous days. “We are just a small local charity that likes to do big things for our community,” says Maloney. “The cancellation has wiped out over a year of preparation, $2M in non-refundable payments to artists alone, and substantial investments in staging, production, contractors, marketing, and sponsor commitments, continues Maloney. “We worked tirelessly raising funds from special events, donors, and financial partners to produce this charity festival—and now everything we built is gone,” said Maloney.

The Tribe had heavily promoted the festival at the venue through its Casino in Immokalee and Seminole Tribe Tourism channels, including slot machine ad graphics, video boards, social media, websites, and emails to over 90,000 Unity members. The Seminole Tribe of Florida is a multi-billion-dollar organization that owns and operates seven casinos in Florida, including two Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos. The Tribe also owns Hard Rock International, a Hotel & Casino business in 76 countries, and is preparing to open the new billion-dollar Hard Rock in Las Vegas in 2027.

For more information and updates, visit www.thecharitypros.org.

About The Charity Pros
Founded in 2019 by young entrepreneur Megan Maloney, The Charity Pros is a Ft. Myers 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advocates and supports children's programs focused on health, child protection, poverty, education, and equality. The “Megan's Wish” program grants a wish to children coping with traumatic circumstances. The all-volunteer group has played a crucial role in hurricane relief efforts and underserved communities, facilitating large toy drives, children's holiday parties for needy families, and events in collaboration with local law enforcement, healthcare organizations, and state services for children. The Charity Pros has hosted major concerts and festivals at Hammond Stadium and Hertz Arena, honoring local heroes, veterans, and first responders. These events have raised significant funds for programs and other local children's charities, positively impacting the surrounding communities

Megan Maloney
The Charity Pros
+1 239-314-8726
contact@thecharitypros.org
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