Analysis
ED LL E C AN C LAST-MINUTE CANCELLATIONS FOR MAJOR EUROPEAN FESTIVALS
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utch festivals such as Lowlands, Down the Rabbit Hole and Mysteryland, will not be permitted to take place this summer after the government extended its ban on multiday events until September. The ban on non-seated public events and multiday festivals with more than 1,000 attendees came into effect on 10 July and was set to remain until 14 August, when the government would decide whether festivals after that date could go ahead. However, the cabinet has sealed the fate of the summer season sooner than expected, ruling out multiday festivals until at least 1 September due to uncertainties surrounding the Delta variant of Covid. The government’s tightening of restrictions comes in spite of Fieldlab’s findings from three months’ worth of pilot events in the Netherlands that show that the risk of Covid-19 infection, when following certain hygiene and testing protocols, is about the same as being at home. Fieldlab is an initiative of the Dutch government and several trade bodies, including the Alliance of Event Builders. More than 30 other event organisations including Event Warehouse/Paaspop, DGTL and
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F1 Dutch Grand Prix Zandvoort joined ID&T as co-plaintiffs in its legal proceedings against the Dutch government over the “carelessly prepared” restrictions. The government may provide more clarity on Monday 2 August about the possibilities for oneday events without overnight stays. Elsewhere, there will be no Pukkelpop this year after all, the festival announced, as a result of new government regulations that would have required it to almost triple its onsite testing capacity with less than a month to go until gates open. Pukkelpop – the last remaining major international music festival in Belgium following the cancellation last month of Tomorrowland – has been told by the Belgian federal government it may not proceed this year in its current form,
according to a statement from organisers. The 66,000-cap festival would have taken place near Hasselt between 19 and 22 August with artists including Liam Gallagher, Editors, Future, Anne-Marie and Marshmello. “The current framework has made it impossible for us to organise Pukkelpop,” say organisers. “The additional demands in terms of testing would require us to almost triple the testing capacity at, and in the run-up to the festival.” The festival has initially planned for a daily Covid-19 testing capacity of 7,000. However, recent changes in the minimum time for festivalgoers to take rapid antigen (lateral-flow) and PCR tests ahead of the event, announced by the Belgian government on Monday, have finally rendered Pukkelpop 2021 unfeasible, the statement continues.
“The current framework has made it impossible for us to organise Pukkelpop. The additional demands in terms of testing would require us to almost triple the testing capacity at, and in the run-up to the festival” Pukkelpop statement
