One of Michigan’s biggest, most celebrated music festivals has fallen prey to COVID-19 for the second year in a row.
Electric Forest in Rothbury, which had hoped to stage a postponed 2021 festival in August, instead announced that canceling this year’s music festival was the “only course of action.”
That cancellation follows on the heels of similar moves by other regional festivals, including the Buses by the Beach Bus Benefit north of Holland over Memorial Day weekend and late August’s Willowsong Music Festival in Sidney.
Electric Forest’s decision came “after a tumultuous year full of challenges” that included pushing the late June festival to alternative dates in August with hopes that 40,000-plus attendees might be able to gather on the Double JJ Resort site.
Some 2021 summer music festivals cancel for 2nd year; others move forward
John Sinkevics, LocalSpins.com
The 2021 music festival season in Michigan has shaped up as a mixed bag: Some summer events already have canceled for the second year in a row, other festivals are moving full steam ahead with ticket sales, and still others remain in limbo.
With the year-long COVID pandemic continuing to muddy the waters for touring artists and festival organizers, the roster of Michigan music festivals seems to change weekly as previously scheduled events get canceled or postponed.
Potential capacity restrictions, difficulties in booking artists who haven’t committed to touring yet and other concerns have left many festivals looking ahead to 2022 or debating the merits of moving ahead as scheduled.