On Aug. 31, the Bonnaroo team announced via Twitter that the popular music and arts festival would be cancelled this year. The change comes after Hurricane Ida made landfall on the United States this week, waterlogging a vast majority of southern areas including the city of Manchester, Tennessee where Bonnaroo was to be held.
“We are absolutely heartbroken to announce that we must cancel Bonnaroo,” The statement read. “We have done everything in our power to keep the show moving forward, but Mother Nature has dealt us a tremendous amount of rain over the past 24 hours, and we have run out of options to try to make the event happen safely and in a way that lives up to the Bonnaroo experience.”
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival was held for the first time in 2002 at the Great Stage Park in Manchester and entertained an audience of nearly 70,000 festivalgoers. It has taken place over the course of four days during the summer every year since then, with the exception of 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year marks the second cancellation in Bonnaroo’s history.
Victoria Marion, a senior at ETSU, was invited to attend Bonnaroo through her internship with the Knoxville-based production company Loch & Key. Loch & Key is best known for creating content for festivals across the central and southern parts of the United States.
Less than five minutes after receiving a call from the University Health Center confirming that she had a negative COVID-19 test and was all set to attend the festival, Marion got the news that Bonnaroo had been cancelled.
“Going to festivals, being immersed in music and community is a lifeline for so many people, especially the Loch and Key crew,” said Marion. “We were all so excited to feel some sense of normalcy and shoot an amazing show.”
Shifting focus towards the silver lining, Marion pointed out that Bonnaroo had potential to become a super-spreader event for the COVID-19 virus. As of Sept. 1, Tennessee has approximately 9,382 reported cases per day, meaning that COVID-19 numbers are at an all-time high for the state.
“Despite the precautionary methods Bonnaroo was taking, I’m sure the festival would’ve resulted in some transmission of the virus, which could’ve landed many Bonnaroovians in the hospital.” said Marion.
Bonnaroo is set to return in the summer of 2022.
You must be logged in to post a comment.