BYRON BAY, NSW (CelebrityAccess) — In yet another setback for the beleaguered Byron Bay Bluesfest, organizers announced that the festival has been postponed again and will now take place in early 2022.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Bluesfest Festival Director, Peter Noble OAM said:
“It is obvious that we cannot present Bluesfest in a safe manner in October, so we have re-scheduled back to our usual timing with dates over the Easter Long Weekend next year; a time we expect things to be returning to normal,”
“We are a resilient bunch. We have worked so hard since May 2019 to make Bluesfest happen and, guess what, we are not giving up. We are immensely proud of who we are: we are proud of the Bluesfest name and what that represents, immensely proud, and we are already looking forward to Easter. I thought this decision would be hard to make, but it was the reverse. The safety and protection of our loyal Bluesfesters, our festival staff, our performers, our volunteers, stallholders and suppliers is paramount, and I will not put anyone at risk right now. So the decision to re-schedule was a ‘no-brainer’.”
“Now we concentrate on the future, and it’s a bright future – and the return of Bluesfest over four days next Easter: FRIDAY 15TH APRIL – MONDAY 18TH APRIL 2022. PLUS … we are working on something special for Thursday 14th April. I am confident that, by the end of this year, Australia will have achieved at least a 70-80% vaccination rate and will have achieved at least ‘Stage Three’ in the plan to open up the whole country. Lockdowns will be consigned to history. Perhaps we may even see international artists returning. IF THEY CAN COME WE WILL BE PRESENTING THEM! ”
“In the meantime, I do ask and urge every ticket holder to hold on to their October ticket – and roll it over to Easter. I promise you will not be disappointed. As soon as this outbreak is over and we are out of lockdown safely, then I will be announcing the incredible new names joining our lineup, and then you can make an informed decision. Rest assured, we will continue to offer refunds until after the new artist announcement.”
“We will return and when we do it will be the greatest Bluesfest atmosphere you have been part of, with easily THE STRONGEST BILL OF AUSSIE AND KIWI TALENT EVER SEEN IN THIS COUNTRY.”
“DON’T SAY WE DIDN’T TELL YA!!”
The festival, which was scheduled to return during Easter Weekend 2021 after taking a COVID-19 hiatus in 2020. However, just hours before the gate was due to open, the festival was postponed until October due to a local outbreak of coronavirus.
