Good news! This summer festival season has been blighted the world over for one very obvious reason, but The Netherlands has just offered the latest glimmer of hope after stating that they aim to get shows back on the road after July 1st.
Last month, the Dutch government announced a cancellation fund of more than €300million in order to allow event organizers to reschedule shows panned before July 1st to the second half of the year, with security that they will be covered if the pandemic stops events going ahead any time after that date.
One festival, Liquicity, which is due to take place from the 16th to the 18th July, posted a statement to their website, explaining that the Dutch government had confirmed festivals should be able to go ahead in the country from the 1st July.
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“Great news: the Dutch government has announced that they aim to allow festivals after July 1,” the statement from Liquicity said. “In case of festivals still get canceled due to changing COVID circumstances, organizers are likely to be compensated for the costs. Festivals in The Netherlands are currently selling out in record pace due to this new government announcement.”
Liquicity also promised full refunds if the event should end up being canceled — “in case of festivals still get canceled due to changing COVID circumstances, organizers are likely to be compensated for the costs” — and another festival, Lowlands, has announced that two trial events will take place later this year, with 3000 participants expected to present negative COVID-19 tests on entry.
Dutch festivals that usually take place in the spring or early summer such as Awakenings and DGTL have revealed they are rescheduling to autumn in order to be covered by the cancellation fund.
Awakenings Festival will now take place across September 11 and 12, and tickets are already sold out. Its website notes: “The COVID-19 pandemic is still not over, but things are starting to look a bit brighter, so we now aim for the second weekend of September.”
