Today in no-good, dirty, rotten news from the music world: Hideout Block Party/A.V. Fest isn't happening this year. According to a joint statement from Hideout owners Tim and Katie Tuten and A.V. Club editor Josh Modell, "After much consideration and deliberation we have decided not to have the Hideout Block Party / Onion – A.V. Fest this year." Continues the statement: "It just seems like the right time to take a break to go fishing and read some books."

Pressed for details, Modell said the festival wasn't canceled for any particular reason, and that it wasn't gone for good.

Neither Katie nor Tim Tuten were immediately available for comment.

The block party has been a favorite of the city's music scene since it debuted in 1996. In recent years, Wilco, Neko Case, and Death Cab for Cutie have all graced the stage outside of the beloved Hideout bar. In 2007, this magazine called the party "perennially the best music fest of the year."

To state the obvious, this sucks. As Chicago's once-communal music festivals balloon to twice and thrice their original sizes, Hideout/A.V. Fest remained a rare fan-friendly festival: tame, affordable, and with reliably good bands. Fortunately, there doesn't appear to be any bad blood between the Hideout and Onion (the venue will host multiple nights of A.V. Club's comedy festival later this month), so a reunion isn't out of the cards. ’Til then, it's marquee names and three-day passes on this summer's local festival circuit.