A view of the Carnaval Maine site on Portland’s Eastern Promenade in 2020, the first year of the event. Photo courtesy of Carnaval ME

Maine singer-songwriter Amy Allen will not perform at the Carnaval Maine winter festival in March as previously announced, the festival’s organizer said Tuesday.

Brian Corcoran of Shamrock Sports & Entertainment, which runs the event, said his company was “not able to make 2023 work” for a Carnaval Maine appearance by Allen, but he will try to book Allen for 2024 instead. He said that Allen has been in “high demand” since being nominated in November for the new songwriter of the year Grammy award.

Maine native Amy Allen will not perform at this year’s Carnaval Maine event. Photo by Caity Krone

Shamrock Sports & Entertainment had announced in mid-December that the winter festival would be moving from Portland’s Eastern Promenade to the Commercial Street waterfront, and that Allen would be one of the headlining performers, along with the Maine-based Mallett Brothers Band and North Carolina-based Parmalee.

“As in any business, things can change. We wish Amy well on her pursuit of a Grammy and join Mainers in cheering her on,” Corcoran said in an email to the Press Herald. Representatives for Allen would not comment on the matter and deferred questions to Shamrock.

Shamrock announced the addition of another performer to the festival’s lineup Tuesday, country star Michael Ray, who will play on Saturday, March 11, the second-to-last day of the event. Ray has had several hit country songs over the past few years, including “Think a Little Less,” “Kiss You in the Morning” and “Whiskey and Rain.” Portland band 12/OC will open for Ray.

Country star Michael Ray will play Carnaval Maine in Portland in March. Photo courtesy of Carnaval Maine

Allen had originally been announced as the headliner for the festival’s last day, March 12. A replacement act for that date has not yet been announced.

Carnaval Maine is scheduled to run March 8-12 outside of DiMillo’s on the Water restaurant on Commercial Street, on the Portland waterfront. Besides live music and entertainment, the festival will include an outdoor KidsZone, ice sculptures and Bites & Brews pairings of Maine foods with craft brews and cocktails. For more information about the event, go to carnavalme.com.

Allen, who grew up in Windham and South Portland, has gained a reputation during the past few years as one of the more prolific and successful songwriters in the contemporary music business, having written or co-written songs for such pop stars as Halsey, Selena Gomez, Shawn Mendes and Harry Styles. She was nominated for a Grammy Award in the new category of songwriter of the year in November. She’ll find out if she won on Feb. 5, during a live broadcast of the Grammy Awards on CBS.