Country Summer festival postponed again by COVID-19

There won’t be a Country Summer for the second year in a row.

The Country Summer Music Festival in Santa Rosa — the biggest country music event in Northern California — has been postponed once again, officials have announced. It’s now set for June 17-19, 2022 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

This is the third time that the festival has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was originally set to take place in June of 2020, then got pushed back to the fall of that year, only to be rescheduled to June of 2021. And now fans will have to wait until 2022 to get their Country Summer.

“According to festival producers, the decision to postpone until 2022 was due to continued uncertainty surrounding COVID-19

and live event guidance from local and state officials. There’s doubt whether mass gatherings attracting thousands of fans from across the nation, such as Country Summer, will be allowed this year,” a news release reads.

Two big festivals remain on the books for later in the year, however — BottleRock Napa Valley, set for Labor Day weekend, Sept. 3-5, and Outside Lands, set for Halloween weekend, Oct. 29-31. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has not announced its plans yet for 2021.

Even with vaccinations being administered and counties gradually moving into less-restrictive tiers on the state COVID colorsafety scheme, the near future for large-scale events remains in question.

Country Summer organizers are reportedly currently working on the 2022 lineup and plan to announce it as soon as it is finalized.

No word on whether any of the acts scheduled to appear at the 2020/2021 event — including headliners Eric Church, Kelsea Ballerini and Chris Young — will make the 2022 bill. Other acts who were scheduled to play included Russell Dickerson, Tracy Lawrence, Rodney Atkins, Danielle Bradbery, Justin Moore, Travis Denning, LoCash, RaeLynn, Parker McCollum, Scotty McCreery and Adam Doleac.

Country Summer regularly features more than 20 acts performing on two stages. During its most recent outing, the festival drew more than 30,000 fans to see superstar Tim McGraw perform on June 15, 2019.

Tickets purchased for the 2021 event will be valid for use at the 2022 dates. Current ticketholders can also request exchanges/refunds after the 2022 lineup is announced.

For more information, visit countrysummer.com.