Primavera Sound is the latest big festival casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Writing to to ticket holders in an email today, festival director Gabi Ruiz apologised for keeping fans waiting for the inevitable cancellation announcement and for any misjudgements in communications.
The festival was originally planned to run from 3rd till 7th June and had subsequently been rearranged for 26th till 30th August 2020.
Ticket holders will be able to carry their ticket over to the 2021 festival or, if they wish, claim a refund from 3rd June.
The festival will also begin to announce acts for the 2021 event from 3rd June.
The dates for Primavera Sound 2021 are June 2nd to 6th, 2021.
The full email from Gabi Ruiz to ticket holders is below:
For more info: https://www.primaverasound.com/
First of all, the Primavera Sound team hopes that you and yours are fine. We are sending you love in these very difficult times.
Secondly, thank you very much for your patience. We are very sorry to have kept you waiting, but we wanted to address you when all the details of what is going to happen had been resolved.
But, above all, we wanted to be completely sincere with you. After all, you are also part of Primavera Sound and you deserve nothing less. So, if at any point during this crisis it seemed that this was not the case, please forgive us.
You must know that our commitment to you has always been a priority in all the decisions we have made during this crisis.
We were already thinking of you when we announced the lineup for Primavera Sound Barcelona 2020, the one for our 20 th anniversary, the one that was going to be the #bestfestivalforever, the one that made us dream as much as it made you dream.
We had you in mind when, after the declaration of the global pandemic, we put the health and well-being of our festivalgoers first and decided not to celebrate the festival when it was programmed, in June. It was a hard blow. There is no insurance that offers coverage against this eventuality, not for us and not for you as the consumer.
Of course we also considered you when, with the green light from the local and health authorities, it seemed possible to celebrate it in August and we changed the date. We did so by putting all our effort and enthusiasm into it.
We were so excited when we saw that 86% of the lineup was in for the new date. The same artists that you bought your ticket to see. For them you were also a priority.
You were never far from our thoughts, although it may have seemed that way, when we were discouraged by the fact that there was no clear legal framework for ticket refunds during this exceptional situation: we could not inform you in detail and with confidence about the different options that you would have with your ticket. We felt helpless and it is normal that, as a consequence, you also felt that way because of us. Again, please accept our apologies.
We know that you, like us, experiencing this lockdown and with many doubts about the future, understand that now it makes no sense to continue prolonging this uncertainty when we already know that the gradual lifting of the lockdown around the world would probably lead us to an unnatural Primavera Sound this summer. It wouldn’t be the festival you had bought a ticket for. It wouldn’t be the #bestfestivalforever.
That is why today we are announcing the most difficult decision in the entire history of Primavera Sound: we are very sorry that we have no choice but to postpone the 20th anniversary of Primavera Sound until next year, specifically from June 2nd to 6th, 2021.
Your ticket will be valid for Primavera Sound Barcelona 2021 and will include special benefits to thank you for your loyalty and support if you decide to keep it. But, of course, it will be possible to request a refund if you want to do so. Don’t worry; we will offer several options for you to choose the one that suits you best.
On Wednesday June 3rd, the date on which the festival should have started, the procedure will start and we will get in touch with you directly to fill you in on all the details. On that same day we will begin to reveal the first names of the Primavera Sound 2021 line up. Then you will have more information in order to make the decision that works for you.
Although right now we are sad and worried, we are also sure that this situation that is so difficult for everyone will change and that we have to start looking to the future with hope: today is one day less until Primavera Sound Barcelona 2021.
We are going to work hard to make our postponed 20th anniversary in 2021 the genuine #bestfestivalforever. It will be a party and, of course we want you there. One thing is sure, we will dance together again.
You, precisely because you had faith in us when you bought your ticket and now can decide to keep it, are the person without whom this festival would not be possible.
I can imagine Primavera Sound without many things, but I cannot imagine it without you.
Can’t do without you.
Gabi Ruiz
Primavera Sound Director
