By Scott McCabe
Forbidden Fruit became the latest music festival to postpone its event due to the Covid-19 pandemic as it celebrated it’s 10th year.
Forbidden Fruit was due to go ahead on the 30/31 of May, but after recent government implications it seemed unlikely that the event was going to be held.
On May 23, Forbidden Fruit released a statement regarding it’s decision to cancel the festival. “Following the announcement Tuesday from the Irish Government extending restrictions on licensed events into the summer. It is with a heavy heart that we announce the cancellation of this year’s Forbidden Fruit Festival. The whole Forbidden Fruit Team were extremely excited to celebrate our 10th anniversary with you all, with one of our best and most diverse line-ups to date. “
However, there is light at the end of the tunnel the festival announced ; “We will be back stronger than ever on June Bank Holiday Weekend 5th – 6th 2021 – for what will be a special celebration and back to the summer we know best.”
The festival has a rich past with it’s star studded performers from Indie/rock group ‘Tame Impala’ to the Dj Masterclass of ‘FATBOY SLIM‘. With the 2020 lineup including rising stars in the industry such as ‘Peggy Gou’ and ‘Jorja Smith’ there’s no doubting that the festival will be back with a bang in the summer of 2021.
‘The Killers‘ were scheduled to play in Malahide Castle and Gardens co. Dublin for their ‘Imploding the Mirage’ tour, but were forced to cancel; “We must postpone our UK and Ireland dates due to COVID. The single most important thing is that you all take care of yourselves and be safe and healthy. These are going to be the same great shows, but we have to move them to next year. All tickets will be honored, so we really hope you will join us. If you can’t, please contact your ticket agent.”
There’s no doubting Irish fans were ecstatic about seeing The Killers live in action especially after their electric performance at ‘Glastonbury’ last year, but fans can look forward to seeing The Killers in action next year on June 16, 2021.
It’s not just the Irish musical scene that has seen a severe number of cancellations, music festivals across the world have had to cancel their plans.
- Coachella- One of the worlds largest music festivals had to cancel it’s dates. ‘Coachella’ was due to take place over two weekends in April, but the festival has now announced it’s decision to take place in October. A ‘Coachella’ that will certainly stand out from those before it.
- ‘Glastonbury’ was forced to cancel its plans on their 50th anniversary, the festival was scheduled to go ahead from 24-28 of June, but has since been postponed until next year ; “We very much hope that the situation in the UK will have improved enormously by the end of June. But even if it has, we are no longer able to spend the next three months with thousands of crew here on the farm, helping us with the enormous job of building the infrastructure and attractions needed to welcome more than 200,000 people to a temporary city in these fields.”
The future of some festivals still remains uncertain even though some of the largest festivals have decided to cancel; some festivals are yet to comment on the issue. ‘Electric Picnic’ for example are yet to comment on their plans, ‘Electric Picnic’ was scheduled to go ahead in Stradbally from the 4-6 of September.
It’s not only music festivals feeling the blow of the Covid-19 epidemic. Live musicians and Djs are also effected.
Irish Dj ‘Richard Tracey’ expressed his concerns about nightclubs and festivals easing social distancing restrictions “It’s very hard to social distance in a nightclub, most of the time the DJ booth is away from the crowd and isn’t really condoned for the club/festival goers to be in and around the booth. Festivals on the other had? That’s a different kettle of fish, I’d be skeptical of any festival going ahead this year , but I’m not ruling anything out.”
The impact that this year will leave on the live music scene will be huge however, hopefully if life as we know it returns to normal, music festivals across the world can fill the hole that the global pandemic has caused.
ScottMcCabe2020 