Roadburn Festival Issues 2021 Update
Most years, Roadburn probably would’ve revealed at least one of several headliners by now for next April, but in case you haven’t heard, this isn’t most years. It’s a question as to whether or not Roadburn will even take place — or, for that matter, what shape it will take when and if it does — but the festival is attempting to make it clear that they’re doing everything they can in order to bring something together for the fans. It’s not just about brand preservation at this point. This is a lifesblood working to be saved.
Creative Director Walter Hoeijmakers, who is the final word on all things Roadburn, has mentioned doing a scaled-down “COVID-proof” edition of the festival in Tilburg that, as noted below, “will be accessible whether you’re in Tilburg or somewhere else around the globe.” That says to me it’ll be streamed, which is something the fest probably should’ve been doing anyhow but of course requires its own complete infrastructure, never mind the fact that the photo pits are always crowded enough.
That said, it would be hard for me to articulate the sense of loss that accompanies the thought of not experiencing Roadburn for two years running. I prefer not to try.
There’s talk of ticket rollover to 2022, refunds going out in February for those who want them, and more below. Read carefully:
UPDATE ON ROADBURN 2021:
We’re aware that many people have been speculating about the practicalities around hosting Roadburn 2021 as we originally planned – with everything simply carried over from 2020. Despite encouraging news about vaccines we are just not in a position to assume that will be possible in four months from now.
We are currently planning a very much scaled down, COVID-proof version of Roadburn for April 2021, which will be accessible whether you’re in Tilburg or somewhere else around the globe. We’ll have more information on that in the new year…
What does this mean for people who still hold tickets for Roadburn 2020/21? We’re making this as simple as possible:
ROLLOVER – you’ve done it once, if you’d like to do it again and secure your ticket for Roadburn 2022 then you don’t need to do anything and your ticket will automatically rollover.
REFUNDS – if you would like a refund you can request one via Ticketmaster – ticket buyers will be receiving an email with all the links and info to do this.
Roadburn 2022 will take place between April 21-24.
You will have until February 10, 2021 to decide what you would like to do (if you do nothing, your ticket converts to a 2022 Roadburn ticket). Refunds – including those requested earlier this year – will take place on February 19, 2021.
If you booked a camping ticket of any sort or night bus ticket, this will be refunded at the same time in February, regardless of whether you roll over your festival ticket or not.
If you bought your ticket via Ticketswap you will need to reach out to them; we don’t have any arrangements with them directly.
Like many festivals, we are still facing tough decisions about how to progress in the face of an unpredictable, unprecedented pandemic. We have decided that we will not be rolling over the entire line up to 2022; it would be a huge risk and for many reasons it’s not practical to do so. However, we are in communication with bands, booking agents, labels etc to work out the best way to move forward. We have so many once-in-a-lifetime sets at Roadburn, and for some we’re going to have to wait a bit longer for those unique performances.
Thank you for your understanding and patience. Despite the silver lining of being able to connect with the Roadburn community this coming April, it is still with a sense of disbelief that we tackle each and every part of this endeavour. We hope you’re safe, well and finding solace in music, as we are.
– Walter, Becky & all at Roadburn.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1081424195382564/
https://www.facebook.com/roadburnfestival/
http://www.instagram.com/roadburnfest
http://www.roadburn.com
