Roskilde Festival Denmark Forced To Cancel 2021 Edition

During normal times, 60,000 people fit in front of Roskilde's main stage, the Orange Stage.
Mia Dernoff – During normal times, 60,000 people fit in front of Roskilde’s main stage, the Orange Stage.
Denmark’s major festival was forced to cancel for a second year running.
The next major European festival has been force to cancel for a second year in a row: Roskilde in Denmark.
The Danish government just mandated that no large-scale events would be going ahead in the country this summer, forcing the Roskilde Festival Charity Society, promoters of the event, to cancel for the second year running.
Roskilde Festival CEO Signe Lopdrup commented, while the cancelation didn’t really come as a surprise, the team was still devastated.  She said the festival was meant to rebuild communities that have been destroyed by the coronavirus crisis.
Ticket holders are encouraged to hold on to their 2021 tickets, which will remain valid for a possible 2022 edition of Roskilde Festival. When last year’s edition got canceled, 85% of ticket buyers held on to their tickets to use them this year, which was of “invaluable and crucial” help to organizers, said Lopdrup.
According to a press release sent out by Roskilde Festival, the Danish government has guaranteed that festivals would be compensated for their losses this summer, which is particularly important for an event run as a charity.
30,000 volunteers, from helpers to professionals, organize Roskilde Festival each year. 
Roskilde Festival usually welcomes 130,000 people on site.
 – Roskilde Festival usually welcomes 130,000 people on site.
This includes some 30,000 volunteers, who make the charity event happen.

Lopdrup explained that planning an event of the size of Roskilde – 130,000 visitors annually, a main stage capacity of 60,000 – took one-and-a-half years. Expecting to return this year, financial commitments had to be made. The financial help from government was therefore a relief.

Roskilde follows other European main events, including Rock Werchter in Belgium, Rock am Ring/Rock im Park in Germany, Pohoda in Slovakia, and others, who all had to cancel due to local government policies in reaction to coronavirus.
The only beacon of hope on the continent at the moment is Serbia’s Exit Festival, which has been given the green light by local authorities and already announced an international lineup of headliners.
The UK is a different story. As the only government that has given its live events professionals a target date for reopening, June 21, parts of the live business are quite optimistic. 
But even in the UK, the target date didn’t come in time for some major events, including the iconic Glastonbury Festival and BST Hyde Park in London.