Quantcast

FESTIVAL FALLOUT:
BYE SUMMER,
HELLO FALL

When this year’s edition of the Glastonbury Festival was canceled, promoters remembering the March 2020 postponements of SXSW and Coachella must have experienced a bit of déjà vu. On Friday, Riverside County health officials declared Goldenvoice's April dates for Coachella and Stagecoach too risky—the festivals were canceled for a third time. If it's not obvious by now, touring in the U.S. before the end of summer 2021 is looking grim.

But the festival landscape is primed for some level of return in the fall. New York City's Governors Ball (produced by Founders Entertainment, which is owned by Live Nation) just announced plans to go up in September (9/24-26) instead of its customary June, and Bonnaroo, also usually a June outing, has been scheduled for 9/2–5. Meanwhile, the 2021 edition of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has been moved to 10/8‐17 from early spring.

Organizers of Coachella were already rumored to be looking at October, and C3’s Lollapalooza, booked for 7/30-8/2 in Chicago, could move as well. While neither of these A-list events has officially announced its 2021 lineup, more than 80% of the artists booked were originally confirmed for the cancelled 2020 editions. (Governors Ball says its lineup is all new; Jazz Fest’s headliners will be different from those of the canceled 2020 installment).

Bucking the trend is San Francisco's Outside Lands; it’s scheduled for 8/6-8 and already has tickets on sale for a lineup that includes Tame Impala, Lizzo and The Strokes.

Riot Fest, like Lollapalooza a large Chicago-based gathering, is scheduled for 9/17–19.

Managers believe there's no rush to announce date changes for some of these festivals; Coachella, Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo, for instance, sell perfectly well on their names alone.

The feeling among artists, managers, agents, promoters, attorneys and others is that while 2021 will offer only marginal gains, it will set the stage—so to speak—for a phenomenal return in 2022.

NEAR TRUTHS: SPRING BLOOMS
Here come the big guns. (3/28a)
THE COUNT: COLDPLAY IS HOT, COUNTRY'S COOKIN' IN THE U.K.
The latest tidbits from the bustling live sector (3/28a)
CITY OF HOPE TAPS MARCIANO FOR TOP HONOR
This year's philanthropic model (3/28a)
TRUST IN THE TOP 20
Hip-hop is no longer hibernating. (3/28a)
UMG BROADENS SPOTIFY OFFERINGS
Sir Lucian and Daniel are in harmony. (3/28a)
THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
 Email

 First Name

 Last Name

 Company

 Country
CAPTCHA code
Captcha: (type the characters above)