Bottlerock is out for this year
Bottlerock Napa Valley won’t take place in 2020.
As long expected, organizers behind the popular festival have pulled the plug on this year’s event amid ongoing concerns with the coronavirus pandemic. They announced Thursday that they are pushing the eighth installment of the festival to Memorial Day weekend, May 28-30, 2021.
Headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews Band and Stevie Nicks are still on the bill. The rest of the lineup will be released at a later date.
“We know this is the best decision for everyone involved,” said Dave Graham, one of the partners of Bottlerock Napa Valley. “We are happy that our headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews Band and Stevie Nicks are confirmed for the 2021 festival. “We are also confident that not only will we be able to present much of the same lineup, but we’ll be announcing some additional surprise acts for this coming May.”
It’s the second time the festival has been hit by the coronavirus.
This year’s original dates for Memorial Day were postponed to October in hopes that the pandemic situation would have improved enough to allow for large gatherings. Yet that timeline proved to be too optimistic with the spread of the virus in California and elsewhere.
“Although Napa County has one of the lowest COVID-19 case counts in the Bay Area, we are not ready for a large public gathering such as Bottlerock Napa Valley in 2020,” county Public Health officer Dr. Karen Relucio said. “Events like Bottlerock fall under Gov. (Gavin) Newsom’s Stage 4 plan for reopening, which we will not achieve prior to October. These decisions are not taken lightlym with the knowledge that many people will be impacted. Our first priority is the health of the community.”
Across the country, many festivals, concert tours and large live entertainment productions have been scrapped for this year. Locally, music fans will be missing the Stern Grove, Monterey Jazz and Outside Lands festivals.
One major festival that has yet to officially cancel its 2020 dates is Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free, three-day music showcase staged annually at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco since 2001. Yet it’s hard to imagine that that festival could take place as originally planned Oct. 2-4 — the same dates that Bottlerock Napa Valley was supposed to happen — especially since Hardly Strictly Bluegrass typically draws more people than any other music event in Northern California.
Currently, there aren’t any real details about the 20th anniversary festival given on its website. But, as of Thursday, the festival’s Facebook page still lists it happening Oct. 2-4.
Tickets bought for the 2020 Bottlerock shows will be honored at the 2021 festival. There was no word on a refund policy Thursday. More information on that and the festival will be posted on the event’s website, bottlerocknapavalley.com.