BottleRock Napa Valley postponed until October
COVID-19 concerns force 5-month delay of popular event
BottleRock Napa Valley, one of Northern California’s most popular music festivals, has been postponed because of ongoing concerns over the coronavirus, organizers announced Wednesday.
The new dates for the sold-out, three-day festival, originally set to take place over Memorial Day weekend, are Oct. 2-4. The good news, organizers say, is the most of the headliners and frontline performers already have committed to the new dates.
Passes bought for the original run, May 22-24, will be valid for the rescheduled dates. Ticket holders will notified during the next few weeks with details about exchanges and returns.
The decision to postpone was made “after careful consideration and in coordination with our local and state authorities,” according to statement from the festival released Wednesday afternoon.
“We made this decision with the safety and best interests of our fans, musicians, partners, employees and community being paramount,” the statement reads. “We are committed to putting on the festival to not only share great music and the incredible
Napa Valley hospitality, but because it’s vitally important to the livelihood of all those who make BottleRock Napa Valley the festival it is.”
And it appears that fans still will get to enjoy much of the same lineup — especially in terms of the bigger-name attractions — during the rescheduled dates for the eighth annual
BottleRock.
Organizers said Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Nicks, Dave Matthews Band, Miley Cyrus, Khalid, Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals, and Zedd were among the scheduled acts already confirmed for the rescheduled dates.
“Additional lineup updates will be announced as soon as possible,” the statement said.
Founded in 2013, BottleRock Napa Valley is the latest major festival to be affected by COVID-19.
Southern California’s Coachella, New Orleans’ Jazz Fest and, most recently, Tennessee’s Bonnaroo all have been rescheduled to the fall.
Meanwhile, some others, like South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, and Ultra in Miami, Florida, were canceled outright.
There has been no word on the status of San Francisco’s huge Outside Lands festival, set for Aug. 7-9 at Golden Gate Park.
BottleRock’s new reschedule puts it in direct
conflict with arguably the area’s biggest music festival — Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, also set for Oct. 2-4 at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Organizers for Hardly Strictly could not be immediately reached for comment.
BottleRock officials long had held out hope that the festival would not have be moved, toeing the official line that it was “continuing as planned.”
Yet that didn’t stop fans from showing their concerns
on social media for much of March.
“I swear this Coronavirus better not cancel @ BottleRockNapa or I’m gonna go CRAZY !!!! ,” reads one tweet.
Beyond Matthews, Nicks, Khalid and the other front-line performers, other acts originally scheduled to perform include Blondie, Maren Morris, Brandi Carlile, the Avett Brothers, Janelle Monáe, Maggie Rogers, Of Monsters and Men, Empire of the Sun, Muna,
Foals, Tegan and Sara, Jimmy Eat World, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Digable Planets, Milky Chance, Jon Bellion, Matt Nathanson, Trampled by Turtles, Grace VanderWaal, Village People, Eric B. & Rakim, and Amos Lee, among many others.
It was not known if all secondary acts in what Dave Graham, CEO of BottleRock Napa Valley, called the bill “the deepest lineup that we’ve ever had,” still would be on the October lineup.