2020 was a dumpster fire of a year, on that I think we can all agree.
The Covid 19 Pandemic obviously ruined most of the year, but don’t forget everything else that happened:
Australia fires, Brexit happened, George Floyd died and white supremacy was on the rise.
2020 was BAD.
But the year did have some positivity.
The Covid 19 vaccine started being delivered, the Tiger King documentary entertained everyone for a few weeks, Harvey Weinstein was finally jailed for rape and Trump was elected out of the White House after the highest voter-turnout in American history.
So, we all have our fingers crossed for 2021 to be the year that everything is great and the world gets better.
But more importantly: what about the festivals?!
Music Festivals
2021 festivals were pretty much all cancelled, because they fell smack-bang in the middle of a global pandemic.
While there were some festivals still taking place after the entire world shut down, they were few and far between and were all a terrible idea.
Some, like Glastonbury and Download Festival went online and had a virtual festival, showing past performances and live interviews with musicians.
It was great, but it obviously wasn’t the same.
So, will festivals be back in 2021?
Way back in October 2020, there were rumours that festivals would start up again in 2021, though with some changes and not all at once.
How has that changed in the lifetime since October though?
The Nays
Glastonbury leak?
On the 4th January, Scott Bryan shared a clip of Mel B stating Glastonbury had been cancelled this year.
“Well I know that Glastonbury’s been cancelled so a lot of like big stage performances are on hold again this year”
However, Emily Eavis, the organiser and daughter of the festival creator, Michael Eavis, dismissed the claims.
Whether this is because she isn’t allowed to say anything yet, or if Mel B was just incorrect, we don’t yet know.
Government
The Government was recently warned by the Association of Independent Festivals that we are fast approaching the cut-off point for cancelling music festivals in the UK.
By the end of this month, we may find out that the major UK Music festivals are again cancelled.
Recently there have been calls on the government to offer an insurance scheme that would protect festivals if the festival season is again halted by Covid-19.
Without a safety net, many UK festivals will go bankrupt if they cannot be held in 2021, which would of course be devastating.
“Once we get beyond this, there is going to be an incredible appetite for these festivals”
Paul Reed, chief executive at the Association of Independent Festivals
The Ayes
Vaccine
The long-awaited Coronavirus vaccine is finally out and is starting to be administered to people.
(Photo by Jacob King – Pool / Getty Images)
The first people to be vaccinated are those at the highest risk: over 80s and care and social workers being those currently treated.
Eventually however, we will all be on the list to be vaccinated, and that date gets closer every passing day.
UK Lockdown
Recently Boris Johnson announced essentially a new UK lockdown.
While the lockdown is frustrating and no-one wants it, we need to accept that it is a useful thing and has the intended outcome of curbing the effects of the virus.
If we do all follow the new rules, stay inside as much as possible, wear a mask when we’re out and maintain social distancing, then this should have a big impact to reduce the spread.
Other Countries
Let’s not forget that this virus is beatable.
Other countries, like New Zealand and Australia are almost entirely back to normal now.
So remember that it is possible, the virus does not need to be around forever, and at some point, normality will resume and events will start back up again.
Whether that happens this year or not is not yet decided, but I think we all have our fingers crossed.
My Opinion
Last year I said that I thought the Coronavirus would be eradicated well before Download Festival 2020 took place.
I was WRONG.
So this year I am taking being a lot more caution with my prediction.
While there is some hope, with the vaccine now out and being administered, I am honestly not very hopefuly tyhat Download Festival will be back this year.
I am crossing all my fingers, but I’m not going to shout from the rooftops that I’m confident.
Honestly, if holding the festival means that it will continue to spread the virus and out more people in danger, then I don’t want it to be held.
