Belgium’s Rock Werchter Cancels 2021 Edition

People queue at the entrance to the first day of the 2017 Rock Werchter music festival.
JASPER JACOBS/AFP via Getty Images – People queue at the entrance to the first day of the 2017 Rock Werchter music festival.
The festival, like so many others on the European continent, had to cancel for a second year in a row due to the restrictions imposed in reaction to coronavirus.

Belgium’s flagship festival Rock Werchter has cancelled its 2021 edition, seeing that the current Covid restrictions imposed by the Belgium government make it impossible to prepare a festival of its size.
Festival promoter Live Nation Belgium promises to be back “strong as ever,” June 30-July 3, 2022. Ticket holders can “choose to retain their ticket, carry it over to 2022, or ask to be given a credit to the value of their booking,” the announcement of the Rock Werchter’s cancellation reads.
The credit can be spent on any of the festivals that will take place at the Festivalpark in Werchter in 2021 and 2022. Promoters are currently working out what’s possible under the current and anticipated restrictions. 
“As soon as the right and best formula is determined, we will come back to you. It won’t be Rock Werchter but you can rest assured that we will sing, dance, and celebrate together again this summer,” the statement concludes.
In a heartfelt message to fans and the industry, the team behind Rock Werchter write: “Whilst we know that this is the right decision, we also know that this decision affects many: our employees, the technical crew, suppliers, artists and their entourages, all the local associations and their volunteers, and of course the fans. 
“Our sector has been on hold for a whole year now. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but the dark times are not over, even with the cautious restart happening soon. The once thriving live music industry needs government support. Belgian festivals are internationally renowned.”