Will the 2021 festival go ahead?

[waltere]

I've long been of the stance that by late June we'll be in a position where things would be viable, and that the big problem was (still is) "knowing" that far enough in advance to be able to go through all the planning/build etc. and be confident enough not to force a late cancellation.

Hopefully today's news is a significant step towards attaining that certainty.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

We vaccinate 15m a year for flu, no reason why we can’t be near to that by the end of Feb. Whatever the doom mongers say the infrastructure and the will is there by the truck load. The only thing that could stop it is not having enough vaccine to keep pace.

The question is whether Glastonbury will hold out until late Feb/early March to make a final call.

[Mellotr0n]

4 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

We vaccinate 15m a year for flu, no reason why we can’t be near to that by the end of Feb. Whatever the doom mongers say the infrastructure and the will is there by the truck load. The only thing that could stop it is not having enough vaccine to keep pace.

The question is whether Glastonbury will hold out until late Feb/early March to make a final call.

Quite. Feels like now it’s all about how long Emily Eavis can wait.

If she’s able to wait until say March, I reckon it’s almost 100% going to be on. 

Edited December 30, 2020 by Mellotr0n

[fraybentos1]

5 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

We vaccinate 15m a year for flu, no reason why we can’t be near to that by the end of Feb. Whatever the doom mongers say the infrastructure and the will is there by the truck load. The only thing that could stop it is not having enough vaccine to keep pace.

The question is whether Glastonbury will hold out until late Feb/early March to make a final call.

And the flu vaccines are over like an 8 week period are they not?

No reason that can’t be expanded upon for the Oxford vaccine I don’t think.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

2 minutes ago, fraybentos1 said:

And the flu vaccines are over like an 8 week period are they not?

No reason that can’t be expanded upon for the Oxford vaccine I don’t think.

That’s the thing, it has been expanded upon massively with football stadiums and the like being utilised and volunteers being recruited, so much so that they have too many of them. This ain’t like a lockdown where you have loads of competing interests and often the wrong decisions will be made. It’s quite literally in everyone’s interests that it gets rolled out as quickly as is humanely possible. There are no downsides or competing Interests, other than physical supply. 

[Gnomicide]

15 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

We vaccinate 15m a year for flu, no reason why we can’t be near to that by the end of Feb. Whatever the doom mongers say the infrastructure and the will is there by the truck load. The only thing that could stop it is not having enough vaccine to keep pace.

The question is whether Glastonbury will hold out until late Feb/early March to make a final call.

I went for the flu jab this year, so quick and well organised. If they can scale that up successfully they can hit Easter with masses vaccinated. 

[Jack.194]

Yea I definitely feel at least a bit more optimistic now.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

At the very least they can probably afford to give themselves until the end of January just to see what the actual numbers being vaccinated really are. If they are close to the 2m a week mark then they can probably afford themselves a bit longer. 

[vintagelaureate]

42 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

We vaccinate 15m a year for flu, no reason why we can’t be near to that by the end of Feb. Whatever the doom mongers say the infrastructure and the will is there by the truck load. The only thing that could stop it is not having enough vaccine to keep pace.

The question is whether Glastonbury will hold out until late Feb/early March to make a final call.

I think they can wait to make that call - they did this year (18th March 2020). 

I think there will be an impact on the international contingent though.

[kalifire]

50 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

The question is whether Glastonbury will hold out until late Feb/early March to make a final call.

I feel they're going to need to say something by the end of January, only because that's when deposits stop becoming refundable (although tickets are still refundable until May). Also, Emily did suggest that a statement could be made in the new year.

But yes, I agree with you that the extent to which they can hold out is the crux of whether it'll happen, and they must have a 'date of no return' on their calendar, probably some time in March. That gives us maybe two months and change for the government to prove they can roll out the vaccinations in a way that can allow for a maskless, free-movement event of 200k+ just three months later. I still think it's unlikely, although the situation has potentially improved significantly today.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

12 minutes ago, vintagelaureate said:

I think they can wait to make that call - they did this year (18th March 2020). 

I think there will be an impact on the international contingent though.

I think the issue with that comparison is that waiting until then cost them money, as they had already started laying out for stuff. That’s what they want to avoid this time around (or Ideally get the government to underwrite things) hence why they’ll probably make a call sooner while they haven’t spent anything/much.

This year they knew (realistically) the festival wasn’t going ahead long before 18th March, but had to wait for the Government to officially pull the rug from under them before they confirmed it.  

Edited December 30, 2020 by Deaf Nobby Burton

[kalifire]

9 minutes ago, vintagelaureate said:

I think there will be an impact on the international contingent though.

I won't be going either way, and I know there are others who are in the same boat. Australian vaccinations don't even start until March, for example. As I'm in a low-risk group, I won't be vaccinated before I need to fly, let alone book tickets. I'm gutted but I've accepted it. I think the international contingent would be very grateful for the opportunity to rollover their tickets 😞

[Guy Incognito]

It seems Primavera Sound (which takes place beginning of June) is going to get pushed back to September.

[Zoo Music Girl]

I don't have a ticket so there is no way this won't come across as sour grapes, but isn't it quite often the fact that people that aren't able to go due to family/work/health/whatever reasons would quite like to roll their ticket over? Just wondering why it should be allowed in this instance when it isn't usually. Because more people are affected? And would you say just international people or anyone who doesn't feel safe? Not trying to start an argument, genuinely curious!

[discgoesmic]

4 minutes ago, kalifire said:

I won't be going either way, and I know there are others who are in the same boat. Australian vaccinations don't even start until March, for example. As I'm in a low-risk group, I won't be vaccinated before I need to fly, let alone book tickets. I'm gutted but I've accepted it. I think the international contingent would be very grateful for the opportunity to rollover their tickets 😞

Interesting point. The way I see it, I and my entire Glastonbury group won't be vaccinated by June. We are in mid 20s without underlying health conditions. Do you think the airlines/UK will demand a vaccination to travel or simply a negative Covid test? 

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, discgoesmic said:

Interesting point. The way I see it, I and my entire Glastonbury group won't be vaccinated by June. We are in mid 20s without underlying health conditions. Do you think the airlines/UK will demand a vaccination to travel or simply a negative Covid test? 

id say a negative test and depending on where you are returning to an isolation period or quarunteen on return ....

[Crazyfool01]

3 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

I don't have a ticket so there is no way this won't come across as sour grapes, but isn't it quite often the fact that people that aren't able to go due to family/work/health/whatever reasons would quite like to roll their ticket over? Just wondering why it should be allowed in this instance when it isn't usually. Because more people are affected? And would you say just international people or anyone who doesn't feel safe? Not trying to start an argument, genuinely curious!

its a little unprecedented ... they would presumably want to keep the internationals happy like they did for  everyone this year , ticket wise it might give some chances to those without this year .... and wouldn't unduly affect the following sale because the numbers might not be huge ..... I think thats the fairest for all ...and gives a fair balance 

[anthony constantinou]

Hope we celebrate festivals in 2021 without any troubles

[kalifire]

10 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

I don't have a ticket so there is no way this won't come across as sour grapes, but isn't it quite often the fact that people that aren't able to go due to family/work/health/whatever reasons would quite like to roll their ticket over? Just wondering why it should be allowed in this instance when it isn't usually. Because more people are affected? And would you say just international people or anyone who doesn't feel safe? Not trying to start an argument, genuinely curious!

I don't want to sound entitled - I'd perfectly understand if they didn't extend such an offer, and I don't expect it, but I think this would qualify as exceptional circumstances in which many people who purchased a deposit in good faith are literally unable to attend (and I agree that they did so with no guarantee of a festival etc., before the armchair lawyers spring into action).

Yes, I'd also extend that to anyone who feels unsafe about coming, because it certainly won't be a safe festival for everyone who'd otherwise go. It would be a win-win for GFL. Any rolled over deposits would be instantly snapped up for 2021, and the international/vulnerable folk would feel well treated.

Edited December 30, 2020 by kalifire

[Zoo Music Girl]

3 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

its a little unprecedented ... they would presumably want to keep the internationals happy like they did for  everyone this year , ticket wise it might give some chances to those without this year .... and wouldn't unduly affect the following sale because the numbers might not be huge ..... I think thats the fairest for all ...and gives a fair balance 

Hmm maybe. I guess to my mind people who have a ticket have a ticket for the next Glastonbury, not a Glastonbury in the next couple of years. I know it's shit for international people, but they could still get a refund and still get a ticket for next year. I guess I would just find it pretty shit if I had to give my ticket up due to losing my job or whatever and just get a refund when others are allowed to roll over. They may well do it, though. I have no idea.

[Leyrulion]

Come through a January announcement of "we're trying our best, assume it's on but we could cancel it late March if it's not going to be possible"

Whether they'll take that risk, who knows. There's a history of the festival taking big risks before years ago. 

[Crazyfool01]

8 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Hmm maybe. I guess to my mind people who have a ticket have a ticket for the next Glastonbury, not a Glastonbury in the next couple of years. I know it's shit for international people, but they could still get a refund and still get a ticket for next year. I guess I would just find it pretty shit if I had to give my ticket up due to losing my job or whatever and just get a refund when others are allowed to roll over. They may well do it, though. I have no idea.

id hope the offer of rollover applied to anyone that wanted it ..not just internationals .... there will be plenty of uk nationals that won't have had the jab ....so the same should apply to them if they arent comfortable with going ..... 

[Zoo Music Girl]

1 minute ago, crazyfool1 said:

id hope the offer of rollover applied to anyone that wanted it ..not just internationals .... there will be plenty of uk nationals that won't have had the jab ....so the same should apply to them if they arent comfortable with going ..... 

Yes sorry, I kind of meant if I'd had to cancel my ticket any other year with no rollover it would feel a bit unfair. I get it's unprecedented times etc though.

[henry bear]

23 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

I don't have a ticket so there is no way this won't come across as sour grapes, but isn't it quite often the fact that people that aren't able to go due to family/work/health/whatever reasons would quite like to roll their ticket over? Just wondering why it should be allowed in this instance when it isn't usually. Because more people are affected? 

I would say a couple of reasons;

a) it’s in GF’s interest to sell all the tickets. This they’ve already done so no-need to go through the hassle of doing it again.

b) this isn’t a minor issue that affects individuals who have to make a decision about going or not. This affects everyone, and the decision isn’t ours to take (unless we individually decide we no-longer wish to go), so not really comparable.

c) they’ve already rolled-over tickets one year, there’d be a massive outcry if they didn’t do it again.

d) they’ve been sitting on our deposit money all this time, making interest out of it. It’d be a kick in the balls to tell us we now have to apply again next October 

[kalifire]

8 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Yes sorry, I kind of meant if I'd had to cancel my ticket any other year with no rollover it would feel a bit unfair. I get it's unprecedented times etc though.

If they decide to go ahead, I would imagine the terms to agree to when paying the balance would include something along the lines of 'you accept the risk and agree not to sue us if you get COVID at Glastonbury'. They will not be able to provide a festival risk-free of the virus in 2021, and it doesn't feel quite right to say 'tough shit' to anybody not comfortable with that.

If they allow a rollover to anyone who doesn't feel comfortable going (which can include people who can't get there, of course), it frees up that number of places for anyone who does want to go. It would give those people a chance they wouldn't otherwise have had in 2021, and allows others to keep their booking. It would be fascinating to know how many would roll over, but I'm certain it would be a minority, if the festival does go ahead next year.

Edited December 30, 2020 by kalifire