Will Coronavirus lead to the cancellation of Glastonbury?

[august1]

I'd rather Glastonbury was pushed back a couple of months and the line up had to be ripped up and a lesser bill compiled than no festival at all.

Edited March 8, 2020 by august1

[AlexOvd]

3 hours ago, august1 said:

I'd rather Glastonbury was pushed back a couple of months and the line up had to be ripped up and a lesser bill compiled than no festival at all.

Me too, plus the UK have more than enough bands to drop a good looking line up (and we would have RATM 😂) 

Edited March 8, 2020 by AlexOvd

[vardyvarvar]

4 hours ago, squirrelarmy said:

Probably not a website we want to see but this is a updated list of worldwide events that are being affected by Corona. 
 

https://coronacanceled.com

Nothing cancelled in June so far. It's the hope that kills you!

[Chazwozza]

On 3/4/2020 at 2:47 PM, stuartbert two hats said:

I don't think this is a referendum. 

Well I think it should be! Let the people’s will prevail, etc etc etc...

[guypjfreak]

Big jump today.. Its bound to be go up so strangely we want it to be go high now so we have the time for it to run its course.. 

If that makes sense and if not... Ohh well 

Edited March 8, 2020 by guypjfreak

[gizmoman]

As I see it  GFL have about a month to make a decision whether to go ahead with the build and prepare for the festival in June or postpone it. If they go ahead with the build and then have to cancel late on that would be a disaster for the festival and all the traders etc. who would all lose big time. It would be too big a gamble IMO unless the situation in 4 weeks time is much better than it currently looks. They could postpone it until 19th September which is the true 50th anniversary of the 1st festival, this would give them another 3 months to weigh up the risks and see if it was viable. The line up wouldn't be as currently planned but I doubt if it is going to be anyway given the situation.

They could even postpone it by a year (fallow year) and still claim the 50th anniversary as that would be 50 years since the first solstice festival and the first with the pyramid stage. As things stand I can't see the June festival happening.

[MetaKate]

Yeah, theres no putting corona virus back in its cage now. The faster it spreads the better position we will be in for june at this point. It's a flu and theres a bunch of different types going around every year with different levels of severity. This one is part of the mix now. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

8 hours ago, gizmoman said:

As I see it  GFL have about a month to make a decision whether to go ahead with the build and prepare for the festival in June or postpone it. If they go ahead with the build and then have to cancel late on that would be a disaster for the festival and all the traders etc. who would all lose big time. It would be too big a gamble IMO unless the situation in 4 weeks time is much better than it currently looks. They could postpone it until 19th September which is the true 50th anniversary of the 1st festival, this would give them another 3 months to weigh up the risks and see if it was viable. The line up wouldn't be as currently planned but I doubt if it is going to be anyway given the situation.

They could even postpone it by a year (fallow year) and still claim the 50th anniversary as that would be 50 years since the first solstice festival and the first with the pyramid stage. As things stand I can't see the June festival happening.

Next year isn't a fallow though, as far as I know?

I actually can't see them postponing until later this year. Reckon it will either go ahead as normal or not at all. Not just because of the availability of the acts etc, but presumably as a working farm there is a normal calendar year based around the milking etc. Which potentially they'd rely on more if postponed.

[Sasperella]

3 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Next year isn't a fallow though, as far as I know?

I actually can't see them postponing until later this year. Reckon it will either go ahead as normal or not at all. Not just because of the availability of the acts etc, but presumably as a working farm there is a normal calendar year based around the milking etc. Which potentially they'd rely on more if postponed.

Yeh agreed. It's June or nowt I think. 

I did see another festival saying they were thinking of postponing "for up to a year". Isn't that the same as cancelling??? But potentially keeping the same headliners

[Havors]

16 minutes ago, Sasperella said:

Yeh agreed. It's June or nowt I think. 

I did see another festival saying they were thinking of postponing "for up to a year". Isn't that the same as cancelling??? But potentially keeping the same headliners

Probably more about trying to not give refunds on the tickets.... highly unlikely they could schedule the same lineup or headliners.... 

[eFestivals]

I've just read that SXSW doesn't have cancellation insurance for pandemics.

I'm not sure if insurance like that is a USA thing, or whether we're about to find out that some UK festivals have also selected some things and excluded others in their cancellation insurance.

[squirrelarmy]

3 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

I've just read that SXSW doesn't have cancellation insurance for pandemics.

I'm not sure if insurance like that is a USA thing, or whether we're about to find out that some UK festivals have also selected some things and excluded others in their cancellation insurance.

Can the admins ban this guy for spreading fear. 😂

[thewayiam]

SXSW, another festival in the states is off plus Coachella have talked about an October postponement 

[Sasperella]

21 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

I've just read that SXSW doesn't have cancellation insurance for pandemics.

I'm not sure if insurance like that is a USA thing, or whether we're about to find out that some UK festivals have also selected some things and excluded others in their cancellation insurance.

I can totally imagine it's the kind of thing you think "aaaaah, we won't need that". Like the volcano insurance in that Family Guy episode...

If a festival doesn't have it, does that mean they're likely to cancel earlier? And will they still be pretty financially fucked anyway...??

[eFestivals]

18 minutes ago, Sasperella said:

If a festival doesn't have it, does that mean they're likely to cancel earlier? And will they still be pretty financially fucked anyway...??

who knows? They can cut their losses by cancelling early, or they go all-in and hope it goes ahead so they don't get losses.

I think that any festival that has to cancel (choice or not) is likely to be carrying some heavy costs from that, even if they have insurance. Whether that takes any festival financially under will depend on how big those costs are & whether they feel they'll be able to trade away those losses in future years.

And I guess that if they have to cancel this year, they're not going to feel confident about going ahead next year until there's a covid-19 vaccine. Whatever happens is going to be the new normal until something happens to change that normal.

 

[jyoung]

On 3/7/2020 at 2:11 PM, Ddiamondd said:

Right. And as she was caught hiking up a mountain trail with friends during that period of intended rest, I’m going to go ahead and say she’s not sheepish about pulling a sickie as an excuse tbh.

Lame. You know her well then? She didn't hike the mountain with her voice.

[squirrelarmy]

5 minutes ago, jyoung said:

Lame. You know her well then? She didn't hike the mountain with her voice.

I’m going to guess that mountain air is good for keeping your voice healthy. All those Swiss Yodellers must know what they’re doing. 

[Lycra]

For me cancelling is far more likely than postponement until later in the year. The fest is such a huge logistical undertaking. It's not just the availability of acts, it's the availability of the whole infrastructure, which ranges from stages, large tents through to roadways  fencing and portaloos. This infrastructure could be committed elsewhere. As could stallholders.

On the topic of cancellation, this will not come about unless government intervenes. We are not party to the contracts have with artists and suppliers, but an arbitrary decision by GFL to cancel may invoke penalty clauses and cost, which may not be covered by insurance. Advice to cancel by government will allow GFL to claim force majeure and may help avoid penalties.

[Andy0808 v5]

I’m confident the Eavii won’t cut their losses.. When you’re not sure, the answer is always ‘all in’.

 

 

[doogie]

14 minutes ago, Lycra said:

For me cancelling is far more likely than postponement until later in the year. The fest is such a huge logistical undertaking. It's not just the availability of acts, it's the availability of the whole infrastructure, which ranges from stages, large tents through to roadways  fencing and portaloos. This infrastructure could be committed elsewhere. As could stallholders.

On the topic of cancellation, this will not come about unless government intervenes. We are not party to the contracts have with artists and suppliers, but an arbitrary decision by GFL to cancel may invoke penalty clauses and cost, which may not be covered by insurance. Advice to cancel by government will allow GFL to claim force majeure and may help avoid penalties.

This is the thing.  It's not practical to postpone it, and for financial reasons I don't think they'd cancel it unless they're forced to by legislation.

Of course many of the acts may choose not to turn up, so the line-up would take a massive hit, but luckily as we always say, Glastonbury's not about the line-up.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

Weird how Glastonbury always seems so far away and I’m always willing it closer... yet now all of a sudden with this virus it seems dangerously close! I think we’d all feel a lot more comfortable of it was a couple of extra months further away.

 

 

[Sean paul]

How can people be so confident it will go ahead I cant see it myself very worried at this point 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

1 minute ago, Sean paul said:

How can people be so confident it will go ahead I cant see it myself very worried at this point 

Well, judging by the poll attached to this thread only a quarter of us are confident it will go ahead.

[Sean paul]

What do you think yourself 

 

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

19 minutes ago, Sean paul said:

What do you think yourself 

 

As it stands I think it will go ahead as we are still just about far enough out for things to escalate, events to be cancelled for a certain period and still be well In advance of June. That’s even if events are cancelled as our government experts still maintain banning large open air events is not necessary.