Music
10 Jun 20

Lollapalooza festival and Coachella 2020 have both been cancelled

Courtesy of Coachella.

"It is clear now that live events will not resume for many months."

Chicago's Lollapalooza festival and Coachella 2020 have both been officially cancelled this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chicago Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot and the the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) announced the Lollapalooza news on June 9, with local events the Chicago Jazz Festival and Taste of Chicago also scrapped for 2020.

Coachella was originally postponed from its regular April dates to October due to the pandemic, but news has since circulated that the festival reportedly will not go ahead this year at all.

The iconic California festival announced the October rescheduling in March, but Billboard reported yesterday that the event has been ruled out as its parent company AEG lays off staff.

Lollapalooza had not confirmed a full lineup for 2020, choosing to hold back the reveal at the end of March.

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The festival organisers intend to “honour its annual summer tradition” by hosting a weekend-long livestream event on July 30 to August 2, which is set to include live music and never-before-seen archival footage.

The full schedule for the Lollapalooza livestream will be announced next month.

The Chicago event also released a statement on their website and social media pages to the festival fans.

“We wish we could bring Lollapalooza again to Grant Park this year, but we understand why things can’t move forward as planned,” reads the statement.

“The health and safety of our fans, artists, partners, staff, and community is always our highest priority. Rest assured, we will be working hard behind the scenes to deliver Chicago a spectacular celebration of Lollapalooza’s 30th anniversary in the summer of 2021, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you.”

Lollapalooza South America had been postponed from March to late November/early December, has not yet been cancelled.

The Strokes, Guns N’ Roses and Travis Scott were slated to headline the run of shows in Chile and Argentina from November 27-29 and to perform in Brazil from December 4-6.

Coachella has furloughed 15 percent of its staff (100 employees) and implemented pay cuts of up to 50 percent, with CEO Dan Beckerman of the Anschutz Entertainment Group saying the move will have global effects.

“It is an agonising decision, but sadly, a necessary one,” Beckerman said. “The world is slowly re-opening, and our industry will re-open later and more slowly than most.”

The 2020 Coachella lineup was to be headlined by Rage Against The Machine, Travis Scott and Frank Ocean.

Event organisers Goldenvoice are reportedly deciding between running a smaller Coachella event in 2021 in the hopes restrictions have eased, and hosting a full festival in October 2021.

Roughly 40 percent of Coachella 2020 ticketholders have requested refunds to this year’s festival.

“It is clear now that live events with fans will not resume for many months and likely not until sometime in 2021,” Beckerman said.