REJKAVIK, Iceland (CelebrityAccess) — Organizers for the Iceland Airwaves music festival announced that due to the ongoing new and ongoing measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Iceland, the festival has been postponed until next year.
In a statement, organizers said:
After several months of no restrictions, followed by a snap lockdown in response to the Delta variant, new measures just delivered by the local authorities see venues capped at up to 500 people (per section), with obligatory assigned seats, guests not allowed to face each other, and mandatory rapid tests for all guests (within 48 hours of the event). All other events (standing and no tests) are to have no more than 200 people in each section.
While increasing the seated limit up to 500 and introducing rapid tests is a step in the right direction, these current restrictions render a multi-venue, multi-capacity, standing event, such as Iceland Airwaves impossible to produce.
Despite Iceland approaching a vaccination rate of over 90%, the Icelandic Government has, to date, not laid out any plan to get large-scale music events started again. It seems these new measures are here for the indefinite future and everything regarding the execution
The festival, which was scheduled to take place from November 3-6, 2021, featured a lineup that included Arlo Parks, Laufey, Eydís Evensen, Ouse, Power Paladin, Kælan Mikla, Axel Flóvent, Black Pumas, Crack Cloud, and Marie Davidson & L’Œil Nu among numerous others.
According to festival organizers, negotiations are currently under way to secure as much of the previously booked talent for the 2022 edition of the festival, but as of yet, they were unable to share details about the lineup for next year.
The new dates for the festival will be Wednesday, November 2nd through to Saturday November 5th, 2022.
Tickets for the 2021 edition of Airwaves will roll over automatically for next year, but fans can seek a refund if needed within the next two weeks.
