Following yesterday’s Germany ban on major events until August 31st, Wacken Open Air, Rock am Ring, Rock im Park, and Bang Your Head festivals have officially been cancelled. We can only assume there will be many more cancellations or postponements on events and festivals as mass gathering events continue to be in jeopardy until further notice.
Read the full statements below:
Wacken Open Air:
“Dear Metalheads,
yesterday, the German government decided that due to the Coronavirus pandemic, no mass gatherings will be allowed until August, 31st 2020. We are facing an unprecented situation in our 30 years: It is with heavy hearts that we have to announce that there will be no Wacken Open Air this year.
Our whole team has been working intensively on the festival these last months and the more all of us are bitterly disappointed that we are not allowed to celebrate a Wacken Open Air with you. This administrative order affects us heavily and we will need some time to process the bad news.
Nevertheless, we support the decision of the German government in this difficult situation for the whole world. Your health and safety have always been and always will be our top priority. We as promoters are therefore bound to take an even greater responsibility and have to follow the instructions of the experts.
Concerning Wacken Open Air 2021 and options for your already bought tickets we will reach out to you asap but ask for a little bit of patience whilst we work through this. We thank you for your trust during times which are unparalleled for all of us.
Stay healthy – In Metal We Trust!
Your W:O:A Team”
Rock am Ring / Rock im Park:
“Sold out festivals at the Ring and Park cancelled due to the ban on major events until August 31.
In their eventful and moving history, Germany’s most popular open-air festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park have already faced more than once with unexpected and difficult situations. Now the prohibition of all major events because of the Corona pandemic forced until August 31., the cancellation of the anniversary events at Nürburgring and in Nuremberg.
This alternative decision is of course disappointing for the organizers and their teams, the artists and 175.000 fans who wanted to celebrate 35 years of Rock am Ring and 25 years of Rock in the park on the first weekend of June. Nevertheless, producers have full understanding of this inevitable measure in the interests of the safety and health of all concerned, as sad as the cancellation of the sold out twin festivals is. At the same time, they would like to express gratitude to the fans for their sustainable support.
Together with the live music industry, all hopes are now focused on the time after the end of the state of emergency. The restoration of the anniversary festivals of Rock am Ring and Rock im Park is now scheduled for the second weekend of June 2021
Due to the details about the further processing, all ticket buyers are still being asked for a little patience. The organizers and their teams are working on concrete information about the exact method that will be announced in the next step. Until then, fans will be asked for understanding.
Rock am Ring – Rock in the Park
June 11.-13., 2021
Save the date!”
Bang Your Head Festival:
“Dear friends,
which each passing day it has become more and more foreseeable. Now, to your and to our great regret, it is almost certain: the music festival summer falls victim to the Corona crisis.
As many of you already know, the federal governments and the state government of Germany agreed yesterday, among other things, that major events should be prohibited until August 31 due to the Corona pandemic. The specific regulations, such as the size of the events concerned, are up to the federal states and will follow very soon, but we already are very certain that BANG YOUR HEAD !!! and ROCK OF AGES will not be allowed take place as planned.
We started to consider how we could react to such a development some time ago and thought about alternative dates and ideas for our events, but due to the current situation, we have to discard these options, too.
So we have to assume that the next BANG YOUR HEAD !!! and the next ROCK OF AGES have to be postponed for a whole year, taking place in 2021. We will contact all agents and bands that are confirmed for 2020 during the week. Our idea and hope: to be able to take over the respective event billing as completely as possible into the coming year.
With regard to specific information on the tickets or general conditions for any reverse transactions, please be patient until official regulations from the legislature are available. About a week ago, the so-called German “Corona Cabinet” was considering a relevant voucher solution to protect organizers from too serious financial ramifications, but the corresponding decision and details are not yet set. We kindly ask you to wait with inquiries about reverse transactions until the time has come and we can consider all options thoroughly enough – thank you for your understanding!
What we already guarantee, however: All tickets purchased for 2020 will definitely remain valid for 2021. We would be very happy if you make use of this regulation, as there’s a very hard time ahead of us (and many other promoters) without the usual ticket sales for the summer events. It will not be easy to cover our running costs and existing commitments in the upcoming months.
Therefore, we will start with the official pre-sale for 2021 as soon as possible, with details to follow. Anyone who already has a ticket for 2020 and, despite the regulation mentioned above, orders a ticket for 2021, would support us in a very particularly way, of course. However, it already helps us a lot if you simply postpone your already planned visit and celebrate our anniversaries with us just a year later. Together we can make it through these tough times!
Your BANG YOUR HEAD!!! and ROCK OF AGES team”
Meanwhile, organizers of Summer Breeze festival are still evaluating the situation:
“Dear fans and friends of SUMMER BREEZE Open Air,
of course we are following the current developments of the corona situation and the latest news such as today’s press conference held by chancellor Merkel. We understand these news are disappointing and upsetting for some people out there.
We promised you to be working full steam on solutions for all possible scenarios we might face in the future and also we said that we will respect and act on all decisions made by the local authorities and the health department.
Today we are simply asking you to grant us a little more time to evaluate the new situation and prepare ourselves to come back to you with well-founded information about your tickets and options.
We’ll update www.summer-breeze.de/corona with information as soon as we have more.
Thank you all for your understanding and ongoing support!”
