FESTIVAL FALLOUT:
FULL STEAM AHEAD

HITS identifies Canada and Australia as likely locations for festivals to proceed as scheduled as international agents note the relevance of population, isolation and vaccine distribution.

As one Canadian agent pointed out, "There are only 35-40m people in the entire country and most are concentrated in three or four areas. If we can get vaccines done properly, and keep tracing and testing maximized, we very well could open up more quickly than our neighbors to the south.”

To that end, giant Canadian events like the Montreal Jazz Fest (6/24-7/3), the Ottawa Bluesfest (pictured) with headliners Rage Against the Machine, Blink-182 and Marshmello (7/8-18) and Montreal’s Osheaga with Foo Fighters, Cardi B and Post Malone (7/30-8/1) are all pushing forward with scheduled dates.

In isolated Australia, where the virus is pretty much under control, Peter Noble’s Byron Bay Bluesfest with Bon Iver and Patti Smith (4/1-4) and Paul Piticco’s Splendour in the Grass with Gorillaz, The Strokes and Tyler the Creator (7/23-25) are all systems go for now. Similarly, Smash’s Fuji Rock Fest (8/21-22) in Japan, though it has yet to announce its lineup, is also moving forward.