Covid-19: cascading cancellations for summer music festivals

The coronavirus is also causing damage in the cultural world. The current spring-summer 2020 music festivals fall one after the other. Monday April 13, it was the founder of Solidays who announced that it would not take place this year. This event organized by Solidarité Sida was to be held from June 19 to 21 at the Longchamp racecourse, near Paris.

"We had thought to postpone to September, but there would still be too much uncertainty, explained Luc Barruet, founding director of the association Solidarité Sida and Solidays. We are forced to cancel. More than 65% of the ticket office was already sold and we were on track to beat last year's attendance record of 228,000 spectators at the Longchamp racecourse. "

The poster for the 2020 edition was particularly rich, with Black Eyed Peas, Anderson, Paak, Metronomy, Aya Nakamura, Niska, M, PNL, Justice, Suzane or Sean Paul.

#Solidays will not re-enchant the world this year. A heavy blow for our joyful and united community. 👉https: //t.co/fxByJUozuf pic.twitter.com/C5aKRoOHpf

Financial loss

The patron of the festival estimates that "just over 3 million euros" will be needed by Solidarité Sida, support in 2019 for 108 patient aid projects carried out by nearly 80 partner associations in 22 countries. Aid programs that made perfect sense as the Covid-19 pandemic hit African countries "with already very weak health systems", as Luc Barruet points out.

"We will have to fight and find solutions to raise this amount," he continues. "We will ask our public and private partners to maintain their subsidies and support despite the cancellation." "We ask those who can not request the reimbursement of tickets already purchased. They will not be valid for an upcoming edition. It would be an act of solidarity for projects funded by Solidays," says Luc Barruet again. refund procedure will be put in place, for those who wish. "

"There is no question of making anyone feel guilty, added Antoine de Caunes, honorary president of the association and the festival. But solidarity is at the heart of this festival like no other, which redistributes its revenues to the programs and associations with which he has worked from the start. "

"We are sad about the cancellation of the festival, but not resigned. It is in our DNA to fight, we will do it to finance the different projects which depend on the event and not to jeopardize the association it even ", concludes Antoine de Caunes.

Insurance problems

The Parisian festival Lollapalooza had already announced on April 10 the cancellation of its 2020 edition, scheduled for July 18 and 19. The event, which would have been in its third edition, has already anticipated its dates for 2021 on Saturday July 17 and Sunday July 18. Pearl Jam - scheduled this summer at "Lolla" -, a veteran grunge group that has just released the exciting "Gigaton", is already scheduled as headlining for next year. The festival has also indicated that the tickets purchased remain valid for the 2021 edition.

Stay connected, more info in the coming days. Lolla Loves You! pic.twitter.com/c05HL72zVt

Hellfest, a major Metal music event that takes place every year in June in Clisson near Nantes, also gave up on April 8. Since then, it has been a veritable pass from arms between this festival and its insurer. As reported by Ouest-France, the latter would refuse to take care of the bill linked to the cancellation due to the coronavirus crisis, that is to say 2 to 3 million euros, because he estimates that the policy taken out by the festival excludes "Ebola, avian flu and SARS-type pandemics (severe respiratory syndrome)".

Despite its cancellation, the Metal Festival decided to mobilize by calling on its community to participate in the national effort against the Covid-19, and to support the teams of the Nantes University Hospital through an online kitty.

THANK YOU for your thousands of support messages! The “Hellfest For Health” campaign for @CHUnantes continues. Target: € 66,666!

THANK YOU ALL for your support. The fundraising "Hellfest For Health" for the Nantes Hospital continues: https: //t.co/kEQQxcgkHN#hellfest pic.twitter.com/rvgCZDbWxb

The organizers of Vieilles Charrues, in July in Brittany, and Rock en Seine, in late August-early September in Paris, were also pessimistic for the rest.

"Will American artists, who are building their six-week block European tour, come when their number of dates has already been reduced with the first cancellations? Without our headliners, the situation becomes untenable", a thus warned Arnaud Meersseman, head of AEG Presents France, which has in its portfolio Rock en Seine.

Jérôme Tréhorel, director of Vieilles Charrues, finds it "difficult for him to imagine an authorization for a meeting of more than 70,000 people a day when questions around deconfinement arise".

A festival in digital version

Le Printemps de Bourges will not take place this year, but he is working on a digital version of his event, either online. "For this, from April 21 to 26, the dates scheduled for its 2020 edition, Spring invites all festival stakeholders to share new creations specially designed for an Imaginary Spring", we can read in a press release published Friday, April 10 . A list of "personalities participating in this Imaginary Spring" will be revealed on April 16 and the full program will be revealed on April 20.

From April 21 to 26, let's imagine together, on the RS, another Spring. Meet on April 16 to discover the participants in this "Imaginary Spring", the full program will be unveiled on April 20. There will be no spring without # PDB2020! ☁️💥❤️ #PDBimaginaire # PDB2020 pic.twitter.com/Xhm3hDLCe4

In the rest of the world, the impact is just as great. The Coachella festival in California is postponed to October, The Great Escape and Glastonbury will not take place in 2020 in the United Kingdom, while Primavera Sound in Barcelona fell back in late August.

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