Festival season attempts to avoid becoming Covidpalooza
As more of the population begins to get vaccinated, avid concert attendees are itching to get back into the crowds of their favorite artists’ performances. Knowing this, the biggest summer music festivals have started to turn its gears once again. Milwaukee’s Summerfest is making another comeback with hit artists like Guns and Roses and the Jonas Brothers. Fans are hurling themselves into line to get their tickets as musicians like Green Day, Chance the Rapper, and Miley Cyrus are performing. But even with mostly positive responses, this doesn’t mean controversy hasn’t stirred.
Those concerned about pandemic effects say this is a likely super-spreader event, but Summerfest is combatting this by having the event take place over three weekends in September rather than in 11 days like it was in pre-COVID-19 conditions. The Summerfest website also claims that they will honor those who bought tickets last year but weren’t able to go due to the pandemic. Nonetheless, some who bought tickets are still livid as only three of the original headliners from the Summerfest list of 2020 will play at Summerfest 2021. Some artists, such as Justin Bieber, were planning on performing last year and claimed they would try again this year, but haven’t been able to fulfill this promise. Blink-182 canceled their July 2 concert as well. While many feel deceived by this, some have acknowledged that Summerfest is trying their best given the unusual circumstances.
Similarly, the four-day music festival in Chicago, Lollapalooza, is scheduled to take place this summer as well, having released the lineup on May 19. Considering tickets sold out within 7 hours of being announced, many are curious about what COVID-19 regulations will be implemented. The festival made an announcement that either a full COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test result will be required to attend Lollapalooza 2021. For those not fully vaccinated, a negative COVID-19 test result must be obtained within 24 hours of attending Lollapalooza each day.
Although the summer of 2020 was generally seen as a disappointment due to mandates requiring citizens to stay home as much as possible, it seems summer is coming back in full speed for 2021. Yet, there has been some miscommunication as Lollapalooza claims they will order the event to be socially distanced while also having it filled to capacity: 400,000 people.
The main problem with these upcoming festivals and other concerts arises for those who no longer want to attend and want their money back. Recently, there has been an upsurge among ex-fans of South Korea’s biggest boy band, BTS, as they complain they bought tickets to the 2020 Map Of The Soul World Tour event and now want their money back. The same tickets bought last year for three hundred dollars can now cost more than a grand. Especially in these hard times, some who are undergoing financial struggles are attempting to reap this benefit to no avail as ticket apps offered only one month for refunds and many missed the date.
It seems as though ticket sales are just another one of many things that this pandemic has forced consumers to rethink. Perhaps after all of this, music lovers will be left with a better and more convenient way to refund ticket sales. All in all, a summer full of music festivals and fun is what everyone wants. However, with COVID-19 as a possible deterrent, it’s important to get vaccinated as soon as possible to make this a reality again.
By: Cristi Isaula-Reyes
Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 8
May 27, 2021