Pandemic ends summer’s worth of music fests
Country Thunder, Globalfest still hope to reschedule as many throw in the towel
The extended ban on all public gatherings until at least September due to the COVID-19 pandemic has put an end to Calgary’s bumper crop of music festivals this summer, although some organizations appear to be soldiering on by postponing or rescheduling their events.
On Thursday, Alberta’s chief medical officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, announced the blanket ban on summer events and festivals until September at the earliest due to COVID-19’S ability to spread rapidly through large groups of people. The City of Calgary also announced Friday that all mass gatherings would be suspended until the end of August.
Marquee events, such as the Calgary Stampede and Calgary Folk Music Festival, announced cancellations on Thursday.
But representatives from other festivals, such as Country Thunder, have suggested new dates might be found.
The country festival was set to run Aug. 21-23 at Prairie Winds Park, with headliners such as Keith Urban, Dan + Shay and Kane Brown. On its website, a statement said details about rescheduling the event would be revealed next Wednesday.
A spokesman for the festival said no further statements would be released until that time. Country Thunder events in Florida, Iowa and Arizona have all been postponed to the fall.
Meanwhile, a statement on the website of Globalfest by Lindsay Anne Dann, executive producer and chief executive, revealed new dates were being sought for the fireworks festival and that no refunds would be offered for ticket holders.
“We have contingency plans in place to ensure the festival will also proceed, with alternative dates, programming changes and even social distancing measures all under discussion as the current situation evolves,” the statement read.
“If you have already purchased tickets to the event, please keep them safe, as they will be honoured for our rescheduled dates. As per the terms of sale, we do not offer refunds.”
Phone calls and emails to Globalfest from Postmedia were not immediately returned.
The extended ban on public gatherings affects dozens of smaller festivals held throughout the summer.
The long-term financial effects of cancelling what is a major revenue generator is still not yet clear to some organizations.
“We don’t know where the end of all this is and what it is we need to do to transform ourselves into something else,” says Cindy Mcleod, artistic director of the Calgary International Blues Festival. “Is it a digital stream? Is it ongoing digital concerts? We’re not clear on that as of yet.”
Mcleod announced the cancellation of the blues festival, which was to run July 27 to Aug. 2, prior to Hinshaw’s announcement on Thursday and confirmed they will be working toward an event next year. While many of the bigger acts who appear at the festival perform over two days at Shaw Millennium Park, the blues festival is a weeklong celebration that attracts 35,000 people to various events and venues throughout the city. Ticket holders will be refunded, can hang on to the ticket for future dates or choose to donate the price back to the festival.
Mcleod said the cancellation of festivals goes beyond the arts and culture sector, which “dovetails with tourism, with hospitality.”
“Our supply teams are all impacted, everything from food trucks to lighting companies,” she says. “It’s so much more than just putting an artist on a stage.”
Organizers of Expo Latino were also preparing an announcement Friday about the cancellation of the Aug. 14-16 event, which last year drew 8,000 to 9,000 people to Prince’s Island Park. Mariela Parra, artistic director of Expo Latino and president of Calgary’s Hispanic Arts Society, said organizers working toward delivering “things we were delivering before but online.”
The Hispanic Arts Society has been forced to cancel three of its fundraising events for the festival due to COVID -19 and will be meeting with funding organizations about relief funds, Parra says.
“The impact to us is big,” she says. “We have been celebrating Expo Latino for 23 years. This year we were going to celebrate 24. But we will celebrate the 25th anniversary next year.”