Will there be Music Festivals in 2020?

I usually don't publish news, there are certainly many other sites that you can follow where to stay up to date. In exchange I have always preferred to create timeless content that can be reviewed regardless of the moment. While I am still waiting for someone to wake me up and tell me that this has all been just a terrible nightmare, I am gonna make an exception to write a bit about the current situation of music festivals that worries me so much.

Although many festivals still maintain their dates, their upcoming cancellation (or postponement) is starting to be quite evident, which would add more names to an already very long list of festivals, among which, to highlight some, are SXSW (cancelled), Lollapalooza Santiago and Buenos Aires (postponed ), Coachella (postponed), Bonnaroo (postponed), Governors Ball (cancelled), Download (cancelled), Primavera Sound (postponed), BST Hyde Park (cancelled), Glastonbury (cancelled), Fusion (cancelled), Roskilde (cancelled) , Lollapalooza Stockholm and Paris (cancelled), Burning Man (cancelled) and a long etc.

In some sort of whirlwind of speculation and hypothesis, a lot is being said these days although it is difficult - not to say impossible - to find reliable information. Even the fact that some festivals are rescheduling dates begins to seem a desperate gamble in an attempt to save their 2020 editions.

In a recent discussion organized and published by the “New York Times” (read the full version here), five thinkers were gathered to weigh moral choices in this Coronavirus crisis. Among them was the bioethicist and professor of healthcare management Zeke Emanuel, who even questioned how promoters were betting on rescheduling events for this fall and even next year. 

To the question: “If we have to restart the economy step by step, not all at once, does that mean deciding whether a workplace can do social distancing safely?”

Zeke Emanuel responded: “Yes, restarting the economy has to be done in stages (...). Larger gatherings — conferences, concerts, sporting events — when people say they’re going to reschedule this conference or graduation event for October 2020, I have no idea how they think that’s a plausible possibility. I think those things will be the last to return. Realistically we’re talking fall 2021 at the earliest.”

It is simply crazy and one of the few people in the industry who has dared to speak publicly has been Ben Barbaud (Director of the Hellfest festival), who a few days ago spoke to the French media Ouest-France in what ended up being a very interesting and clarifying conversation and whose full version translated to English (read the original version in French here) you can read below these lines. The interview was published on April 3, 2020, days before the French festival announced the definitive cancellation of what would have been Hellfest´s 15th anniversary.

Ben Barbaud, Director of Hellfest

Will Hellfest 2020 be cancelled?

Ben Barbaud: “Most likely yes but it cannot be said officially. Can anyone imagine authorized festivals in June and July when in our case we bring together 60,000 people, including 20% ​​foreigners, all glued to each other, when we know that there will probably be some cases of Covid-19 in the audience? Festival goers don't understand why the cancellation isn't being announced but there is nothing we can do.”

Why?

Ben Barbaud: “The government is expected to extend the confinement and the ban on assembly beyond April 15. This will allow us to use the force majeure clause provided for in our contracts with the artists. Consequently, it will no longer be materially possible to mount the festival on time for the scheduled dates (June 19 to 21) and that will justify the cancellation. But if I make the decision by myself, I could be accused of having canceled unilaterally, and therefore we will have to pay. So the state must position itself to stop this hemorrhage. Despite our innumerable reminders from the Ministry of Culture, we did not even receive an answer or an email. Not even a phone call! Nothing. It's a shame. The more the days that pass, the more money we lose…”

Precisely, where are you financially?

Ben Barbaud: “We are already at more than 2 million euros of losses. We have been paying wages for a year now for a festival which will probably not take place. All investments on the site, which were subject to bank loans this year, also add to the losses. The coronavirus crisis for festival organizers is the equivalent of a year of work, not just a few months. But it is out of the debate that I fire a single employee. So we will assume the situation.”

You plan to postpone everything for a year. Why?

Ben Barbaud: “We want to offer those who have their 2020 ticket to keep it for 2021. We have been fortunate to have sold out for a long time. Hellfest tickets are precious and we are going to bet on the loyalty of the audience. We hope that there will not be many requests for reimbursement, which will allow us to keep cash and get through the storm. Banks will also play their role, I am confident.”

Wasn't a postponement of a few months possible?

Ben Barbaud: “No. We are not sure that the crisis will be completely behind us in September. But more important, it will no longer be the same quality. American bands will not come. They are currently going through this in their country, and health is a sensitive issue. They're all going to cancel their tours. An edition in September would be worse, and more festival-goers will ask for reimbursement. I prefer to postpone for a year.”

You are facing another showdown with your insurance. Explain to us.

Ben Barbaud: “Yes, we signed an extension at the end of 2019 that covers us against pandemics, long before the virus appeared in China. It cost us 200,000 €. But there is already disagreement over the terms of the contract. According to them, an asterisk excludes atypical SARS type pneumonia. We dispute this reading. If they do not want to reimburse, we will initiate proceedings. And by the time it comes to fruition, we will call on our banking partners, who have heard from us and reassured us.”

Cover photograph: Orange stage at Roskilde festival captured by Flemming Bo Jensen