Artscape squashes Hampdenfest; organizers blame BOPA for scheduling snafu

Forget about the salt-box cornhole games. No chicken wing-eating contest, either. And sorry, you won’t hear all the indie bands. The annual offbeat Hampdenfest street festival, scheduled for next month, has been canceled. Organizers broke the news online Tuesday, saying city officials denied their event permit. Organizer Benn Ray blamed the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts for the mess in planning a return of Artscape and leaving smaller festivals, such as Hampdenfest, in the lurch.