The festival summer 2021 is also threatened by the Corona pandemic. The organisers are doing their best to give us as many great concerts as possible. Nevertheless, the question remains: Which festivals will be allowed to go ahead in 2021, and if not, will they take place digitally? We clarify the current status for the most important festivals of the year.
Fusion Festival in summer: Will take place
Summer Festival? It is still not entirely clear whether everything will really work out as planned by the operators of the Fusion Festival. But if everything goes right, the festival can go ahead. And it will take place on two consecutive weekends. The idea is to allow the fans to move freely on all floors and at the same time keep the necessary Corona distance. The dates for the Fusion Festivals are currently 24-27 June and 1-4 July 2021.
Hurricane Festival this summer: Canceled
The Hurricane Festival in Lower Saxony unfortunately didn’t make it and has been cancelled due to Corona this summer. The line up will be postponed to 17-19 July 2022. All tickets remain valid. The possibility of a return only exists if reasons are given why a visit in 2022 would be unreasonable.
Parookaville: Canceled
Rock am Ring and Rock im Park: Canceled
SMS Festival: Canceled
At the SonneMondSterne Festival, too, all the thought experiments surrounding the Corona protection measures have unfortunately not been enough. The operators are still of the opinion that the necessary measures are not compatible with the spirit of the festival. Restrictions and bans are not compatible with partying and relaxation. That is why the SMS Festival was cancelled. Instead, fans will be able to exchange their 2021 tickets for tickets for 2022 without any problems.
Tomorrowland: Rescheduled
Tomorrowland 2020 was cancelled due to the Corona virus. Instead, there was a 3D festival that at least wowed the whole world with its technology. Things are looking better for 2021. Operators have moved Tomorrowland to late summer. The Belgian government gave them a grant of 1.8 million euros as planning security. New dates for Tomorrowland are now 27 to 29 August and 3 to 5 September.
Wacken Open Air: Will take place
Wacken Open Air in Schleswig-Holstein has set the date for 2021 for 29 to 31 July and is optimistic that the festival will take place. The basis for this is the comparatively late event date at the end of July. Advantages: the organisers can gain time and better adapt to the situation surrounding the Corona virus.
Undecided festivals
The Airbeat One Festival near Neustadt-Glewe will take place as planned from 7 to 11 July. After some big festivals cancelled their dates, the operators of Airbeat One positioned themselves and explained that the financial support from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Corona vaccination campaign were important advantages. They firmly believe that normality will be restored in the summer. Whether it really works will be decided by the end of May at the latest.
Other festivals
The Woodstock Forever Festival in Waffenrod is also to take place again in 2021 as usual. The line-up and the organisation are to be transferred exactly from last year’s cancelled date to 2021. However, the organisers reserve the right to make changes in the planning.
No precise statements can yet be made for the Holi Festival. The organisers refer to the unclear situation regarding the implementation of the Corona protection measures in the individual federal states. Decisions can only be made once it is clear how this will affect the respective Holi Festival.
Digital festivals and their main advantages
In 2020, no festivals were possible due to the Corona pandemic. Therefore, Tomorrowland laid the foundation for a new kind of music experience: Tomorrowland 2021 was raised digitally. For this, the shows were recorded in front of a green screen and later inserted into a digital environment.
This created a mixture of video game and streaming, which could even include the fireworks, the laser show and the Tomorrowland After Party thanks to modern film technology and 3D design.
Other advantages..
Festival operators can make use of this new possibility if no big parties are possible in 2021 and 2022. Digital festivals even have some advantages: it is possible to buy a ticket even if the flight or overnight stay would otherwise have been too expensive. Even people with limited mobility who can’t fly can enjoy the festival from their couch. Camping in the dirt is a thing of the past, as is the noise pollution when you want to sleep. And maybe even the anticipation for next year increases – so we should see positives in digital festivals.
Conclusion: Which festivals are taking place this year?
Some festivals like Wacken Open Air, Fusion Festival and Airbeat One are still in the running and are not expected to be cancelled. Rock am Ring/im Park, Parookaville, Hurricane and the SMS Festival, on the other hand, have had to make way for the Corona pandemic. The Tomorrowland Festival has been moved to late summer.
If, contrary to expectations, the crisis situation does not stabilise further, it could be that some festivals will get a digital spin-off. This also has advantages: More tickets are available, the dirty camping and the loud noise can be dispensed with. Maybe even the appreciation of the next real festival will be greater.
Let’s hope that the summer brings us some good things. Dear summer, let’s finally party and have fun again. Dear summer, we want loud basses and good DJ’s…
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