Regretfully the Blackpool, UK-based Rebellion Festival has made the difficult decision to pull the plug on this year’s event. Thankfully they have already laid plans for the 2021 iteration, which will also be the 25th anniversary of the fest itself.
The organizers have posted a lengthy, but incredibly informative, post via their FB page. You can check out the intro below, and click HERE to read the full statement, which includes important details on ticket rollovers, refunds, and more:
We have been monitoring the situation and looking at all options and whilst we were genuinely very optimistic 2 months ago and honestly thought that this would all be done and dusted half a year ahead, it’s clear that as each day passes things are taking a lot longer to go back to any sense of ‘normal’. All the indications are that mass indoor gatherings will not take place for some time to come. Obviously ticket sales have ground to a halt since the lockdown so the conclusion we’ve come to is that even if the Winter Gardens is allowed to open in August, we won’t be able to put on the same standard of festival that you’ve all come to know and love. We are already losing key bands and there would be people that had bought tickets that either can’t travel (if overseas travel is still banned) or choose not to travel and it’s unfair on them too. Further, we’ve listened to bands, fans and crew and the feedback has tended to move from an optimistic and positive response with people wanting it to happen to many of us now reluctantly accepting that it’s not the best thing to do for our communities health and well-being. So for those of you that wanted us to cancel, we feel we’ve done the right thing but for those of you that wanted us to carry on you can rest assured that we looked at every available option on how long we could keep going before we had to make an awkward decision. Putting on a festival of this size is a huge undertaking and our lives have been on hold with regards to pre-production and ticket sales so to be honest we’re running out of time now to make this happen anyway.
Plenty of bands perform at Rebellion and, for many EU and UK acts, it is hoped for to be a jumping off point for the next stage of their careers. So be sure to visit your favorite bands’ (and maybe some you haven’t heard yet) Bandcamps, Spotify pages, or pick up some merch if available to help keep afloat the artists who make the music we love.
the white drew carey (aka – Jeff Sorley) is the founder and head editor of TGEFM. He’s lived (outside of) Chicago, Madison WI, (ugh) Penn State, Lyon FR, Oxford UK, central New Jersey, and now within earshot of SFO in the Bay Area. When not scouring the web for more great bands and labels to post about, he also spends time drawing (mostly) silly sci-fi and anime stuff under the name Asplenia Studios.
