Splendour's Nine-Day Sydney Pop-Up Festival Has Been Cancelled
"With Greater Sydney currently in lockdown until 9 July and COVID-19 outbreaks now evolving in other states, it has become impossible to progress with plans to move artists and staff around the country."
In news that everyone already knew, no one will be dancing in North Byron Parklands this winter, with Splendour in the Grass moving to November this year instead. Thanks to New South Wales' current COVID-19 outbreak, the lockdown to prevent its spread and the growing number of cases in other Australian states, no one will be making shapes in Sydney this July, either. That's when the fest was planning to host Splendour in the City, a nine-day Sydney pop-up slated for SITG's usual midwinter spot — but organisers have announced that the event has now been cancelled.
In a statement on Monday, June 28, the festival's team pulled the plug on the mini fest, which was set to take place at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal from Saturday, July 10–Sunday, July 18. "With Greater Sydney currently in lockdown until 9 July and COVID-19 outbreaks now evolving in other states, it has become impossible to progress with plans to move artists and staff around the country, and also to build the event in Sydney," the Splendour crew noted. "Organisers also acknowledge the health and safety of staff, volunteers and ticketholders is the foremost consideration in line with the health advice from authorities."
Splendour in the City has been completely cancelled, rather than rescheduled, too — a decision made due to "uncertainty around venue and artist availability in coming months, and IRL Splendour in the Grass scheduled for November."
Ticketholders will start receiving refunds automatically via Moshtix from today, Tuesday, June 29.
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Splendour's virtual festival Splendour XR will still run online across the weekend of Saturday, July 24–Sunday, July 25 — and, at this stage, Splendour in the Grass itself is slated for Friday, November 19–Sunday, November 21.
It's been a rough year or so for the music and events industry, for festivals in New South Wales and for Splendour. 2020's SITG was postponed from July until October, then completely scrapped. Also, plans to proceed in July 2021 as usual were pushed back, leading to the current November date.
Splendour in the City was planning to host an array of beloved Australian artists such as SITG mainstays like Violent Soho, Illy, Vera Blue, Dune Rats and Tash Sultana, as well as two stacked nights of stand-up comedy and a whole heap of extras — all aiming to recreate as much of the OG Splendour experience as possible.
If the full-sized Byron Bay edition of SITG goes ahead in November, it's set to do so with headliners Tyler, The Creator, The Strokes and Gorillaz; however, that's obviously all reliant upon COVID-19 restrictions allowing the event to take place.
Splendour in the City will no longer run from Saturday, July 10–Sunday, July 18 at Sydney's Overseas Passenger Terminal. Ticketholders will start receiving refunds automatically via Moshtix from Tuesday, June 29.
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