WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. >> Phish fans have been thrown a curve ball by the last-minute cancellation of a three-day music festival in central New York due to health concerns after torrential rains contaminated drinking water.

The Curveball festival was expected to draw more than 30,000 fans to the Finger Lakes village of Watkins Glen starting on Friday. In a statement posted online today, the band said they were about to walk onstage for their traditional sound check jam when they were told the festival was canceled.

A mandatory boil-water order was issued for Watkins Glen today after days of heavy rain. The state Health Department said in a press release that tests showed it would be impossible to deliver clean drinking water to festival patrons and vendors.