A historic musical festival will not be returning to Amarillo's stages next year.
The Greater Southwest Music Festival's board of directors has decided to shut down after 46 years, according to board member Michael Hulsey. In a post to the organization's Facebook page, Hulsey cited rising financial costs as a key reason for the show's cessation.
"The rising financial costs to put on a showcase Festival with first-class facilities and highly respected judges, while still keeping entry fees affordable for the schools, made it unfeasible for us to continue." Hulsey wrote in the Facebook post.
Greater Southwest Musical Festival has offices in the Center Building in downtown Amarillo and has been in operation for 46 years. The festival attracted 10,000 students from around the southwest region of the United States for its 2017 competition. The Amarillo Civic Center Complex and the Globe News Center for the Performing Arts were the constant homes for the festival as students duked it out for the top musical prizes.
The musical festival's organization has yet to release an official statement on the show's closing.
For information on the Greater Southwest Musical Festival, visit gswmf.org.
