ROSKILDE, Denmark (CelebrityAccess) — The Roskilde Festival has officially been canceled for 2020 after authorities in Denmar expanded its prohibition against large-scale public gatherings until August 31st, 2020.
2020 was to have been the 50th anniversary of the festival, which was scheduled for June 27 through July 4th with headliners that included Taylor Swift, Deftones, Kendrick Lamar, The Strokes, and Tyler, The Creator.
“We are devastated. Though we feared this would happen, we have until now hoped that it wouldn’t end this way. However, the risk of getting infected with the COVID-19 virus is too large when many people are gathered, and that consideration is by far the most important,” said Roskilde CEO Signe Lopdrup.
“Our ambitions have been sky high. We have all worked hard and made an extraordinary effort to make Roskilde Festival truly special. Even under quite extraordinary conditions during the last weeks. The preparations looked really promising, and now they will be a great foundation for next year’s edition of the festival,” he added.
The fest also hinted that the financial impact from the cancellation is significant but said that tickets can be rolled over for Roskilde 2021 or exchanged for a refund but did not provide details on a reimbursement plan.
They also noted that the cancellation of the festival will be a blow to the social organizations that the festival supports.
“It is still too soon for us to say anything specific about the economic consequences. They depend on the conditions that the Danish government has put forward to help us and others and which we will now look into. There is no doubt that we are facing an extremely serious situation, but the consequences go far beyond us. Artists, the volunteer societies, cultural partners, businesses, and organizations that are running the different stalls, servicing the festival guests, securing production and supplies, or are contributing to the festival program; they will all be severely affected. Many of them are already suffering by the current situation,” Lopdrup added.
