Storm Arthur cancels Cavendish Beach Music Festival Saturday

Organizers of the CavendishBeach Music Festival have cancelled all of Saturday night's performances as post-tropical storm Arthur barrels down on Prince Edward Island.

Earlier in the day, country-music stars Blake Shelton and DariusRuckerwere forced to pull out. The festival blamed weather-related travel woes.

"Extreme high winds and concert stages do not mix.This is a sucky situation," Shelton tweeted. "Y'all who are there, please be safe."

Saturday's events were scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m., but they were pushed back until 5 p.m., then finally cancelled around 4:40 p.m.

Organizers say if the winds die downon Sunday, the rest of the festival will continue.

Organizers say single-day ticket holders canrefund their ticket. Information is on their website. Weekendpass holders can receive a discount towards next year's event.

Thousands of people from around the Maritimesplannedto attend the weekend-long festival.

Arthur started to make its presence known on Prince Edward Island in the early afternoon. About 10,000 Maritime Electric customers were in the dark early Saturday evening.

Police say a number of electrical poles were knocked down by the storm and roads were blocked by fallen trees.

Officials restricted trafficacross the Confederation Bridge because of high winds. Certain classes of vehicles are preventedfrom making the crossing, including motorcycles, trailers and high-sided trucks and buses.

Many sailboat owners could be found at the Charlottetown Yacht Clubtrying to get their boats out of the water in advance of Arthur's arrival.

The most serious impact of the storm in P.E.I. isnot expecteduntil Saturday evening.