SeeCalifornia.com

California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a press conference this week that large scale gatherings such as concerts and sporting events would likely not return to the state until a vaccine has been developed for COVID-19. “The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and we get to a vaccine,” he said.

Those are not reassuring words for California’s mega-festivals that were postponed to the winter months. Among the big time events in which ticket holders are guaranteed admission for  new dates, and waiting lists to get tickets still exist, are music festivals such as Napa BottleRock (now planned for October 2-4, 2020) and Coachella (October 9-11 & October 16-18, 2020).

Over 50,000 people signed a petition on the website, change.org, requesting Coachella be cancelled in 2020. This is the petition’s exact wording:  “COVID-19 outbreak hit California. Large personnel gathering event can be extremely dangerous especially when participants travel all around the world attending the event. As members whoes planning on going to the Coachella 2020 events, we have every right to be alerted, to be informed and to take every precaution the festival is capable of offering to protect ourselves. Participant are from all over the states and the world.”

Nearly all major sports leagues have indefinitely postponed operations because of the pandemic but music festivals, county fairs and other events are doing a “wait and see” strategy. One example is the Orange County Fair which posts its dates as July 17-August 16, 2020. Applications for fair competitions are available online as of this posting.

If you’re in the event planning business, 2020 is a “nail-biter,” definitely. 4th of July parades & celebrations are potentially on the chopping block, as well as fairs, summer concerts and more.