Music Always Survives
The summer of 2020 will always be remembered. Unfortunately not because of legendary live gigs. Nor because of countless shared beers in front of main and other stages or fleeting romances in tiny tents at crowded festival campsites.
The coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic has literally put the whole music festival scene on pause. Whether cancelled or postponed, it’s a ‘pause’ that in most cases will last a whole year.
Although the ‘festival season’ might be coming to an end in big parts of the world, the worries and uncertainties for festival organizers (and everyone else working in this industry) are far from over. Festivals that were lucky to escape the very beginning of the pandemic now also risk having to cancel their upcoming editions. The typical festival season in Australia and more southern countries in Asia, Africa and South America stretches from October to February.
Music Always Survives is an awareness and support platform. Just like music unites people, we literally unite all cancelled/postponed festivals into an (unfortunately) expanding patchwork of beautiful festival posters. It provides a different view on the global impact the coronavirus is having on this entire industry. At the same time this visual overview is our way of honoring all the artwork that was made. Made for festival editions that have never taken place or never will.
When we launched this platform (at the end of August) it featured 300 music festivals from 58 different countries. From here onwards we leave it up to all other festivals to complete this overview by uploading the original posters of their cancelled or postponed editions. Our platform is open to every festival, from the biggest and best-known to the smallest and more local ones.
In addition to being a collection of ‘unfortunate events’, Music Always Survives especially hopes to spread a sense of positivity and optimism. This platform allows festival enthusiasts to share newly announced dates, as a sign of support, stating that they’ll be there for the next edition. An act of support that is in line with the festvials’ own positive attitude, focusing on brighter days ahead and a better festival season.
So let’s look forward to a summer in which we can enjoy live music with our friends, without having to count how many exactly. A summer of sharing drinks without having to be afraid of actually sharing that drink. And of course a festival summer in which we can cheer and shout at amazing headliners and new discoveries without masks keeping our voices down. Hopefully that summer will be the summer of 2021.
In the meantime go scroll, click, share, support.
Share you’ll be there (next year)!