Festivals scheduled for this spring and summer will be postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
If events are forced to be canceled, it could mean for the second year in a row that many festivals have been abandoned due to the risk of infection.
The Kuopio Dance Festival and the Espoo April Jazz are among the first to announce a change in schedules, and both events were postponed back to October.
Last month, the Minister of Economy Mika Lintilä (Cen) announced that the government will compensate live event organizers for cancellations caused by coronavirus restrictions.
"If the transaction is canceled due to a State decision, it would be possible to reimburse part of the costs incurred," Lintilä said at the time.
No social distance at Ruisrock
At the same time, the organizers of the Turku Ruisrock Festival on July 9-12 said they would continue preparations.
Despite this, the festival’s promoter said he was concerned about the wave of cancellations that have seen European summer festivals such as Glastonbury in the UK and Primavera Sound in Barcelona for the second year in a row.
"Early summer looks challenging. Ruisrock is awkwardly placed in the middle of summer, in July," said the Ruisrock promoter Markko Niemelä.
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Niemelä said that the festival was waiting for the results of a working group set up by the Minister of Science and Culture Annika Saarikko (Cen), which explores how live events could be organized in a Cornavirus-safe manner.
However, Niemelä argued that Ruisrock would not happen with social distance actions.
"If you have to fear other festival goers, it’s not a festival," he said.
According to Niemelä, the final decision on this year’s festival will be made at the end of March or the beginning of April.
All or nothing
The organizers of the Iensaarirock festival in Joensuu, who are due to celebrate their 50th anniversary this summer, said they were unsure whether the event in July would continue or not.
"We take it daily, but we are realistic. How long we can wait is a matter of money," said Niina Hattunen, director of the Joensuu pop musicians organizing the festival.
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Hattunen added that the organizers of Ilosaarirock will decide on the extension in April at the latest. A mitigated festival would not be an option, he said.
"It is done completely or not at all," he said.
Most of the summer festivals were canceled in 2020 when experts warned of the risk of infection.
"Major public events contribute very well to the spread of respiratory infections. People are often terribly close to each other. The public events of this spring and summer must be taken very critically," Ilkka Julkunen, Professor of Virology at the University of Turku told Yle in April last year.
But a few of the events that took place in 2020 were not related to significant coronavirus outbreaks, according to hospital circles taken by Yle.
Elina Kärnä Last August, Seinäjoki Central Hospital told Yle that the lack of principals was probably due to luck.
"Happiness probably played its part, and in some of these events it was partly possible to keep safe distances," he said.
Source: The Nordic Page