www.ticketnews.com: Cancelled due to COVID-19 a year ago, Bonnaroo was set to take place this coming weekend in Tennessee, but mother nature had other plans. Heavy rains from the remnants of Hurricane Ida moved into the area and dumped massive amounts of water on “The Farm,” forcing organizers to make the difficult call to shut the event down.
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Disney starting up 14 productions within the span of seven months, like the interview said, is a lot to conquer. I do think that they are valid in wanting to start up everything to get jobs back on the market and boost the entertainment industry, however I think that a lot of practices and procedures will fall through the cracks. They talk of implementing equity and inclusion measures through this process but I hope they are able to follow through with all of the hustle and bustle of remounting and opening these big shows in just a few months. I hope that all of their goals, including going along with all of the Covid “hoops” that they are going to have to go through on the process are successful. I look forward to seeing how these processes go and hope that they can set a good precedent for the industry.
This is really unfortunate, especially after being cancelled for the pandemic in 2020, but we can only expect this kind of thing to happen more often due to climate change. I wonder if at some point in the near future there will be a shift in the ways people travel and attend events. I have already altered my habits for planning vacations. The pandemic obviously made this worse, but climate change has absolutely been a factor. I save money, but wait to buy tickets to anything until the last moment. I no longer plan on using travel agents and doing layaway programs for paying off vacations as there is no telling whether the vacation will actually happen. I wonder how this may impact other festivals. Getting rained out for a single day or having lighter attendance than normal due to unfavorable weather has always been a possibility, but having an entire festival canceled due to intense flooding is quite new. If the weather continues to be entirely unpredictable like this I imagine there will be changes to the way events like this are planned and the way people go about attending them.
**NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED THERE BUT MY COMMENT WAS PUBLISHED AS "UNKNOWN" SO I AM POSTING IT AGAIN**
Acknowledging conversations regarding racial issues is definitely a first step in Disney’s attempt to heal the entertainment industry for the better. That being said, what is perhaps most shocking is Thomas Schumacher’s comment on conversations such as these being “lifelong” commitments. After all, (and as we’ve come to understand within the first couple of days of the Anti-Racistand Equitable Practices in Theatre course) accepting “non-closer” is vital in holding dialogues on subjects commonly labeled as “sensitive”. Therefore, seeing the current president of the Disney Theatrical Group endorse and recognize the call to “step up” and deliver on their promise of “creating happiness through magical experiences” is not only commendable but admirable. Besides, Disney’s commitment to happiness should, in theory, expand to the production as a whole (not only members of the audience). In other words, both members of the production (on and off the stage) should feel like a part of the larger community.
Although news of cancellations has become commonplace in our covid-centric society, I have yet to overcome the feeling of defeat that comes with every cancellation. When the first ones came in a torrent as the entire world shut down, my feelings of disappointment numbed, but since then every announcement of a festival or a show has been like a little spark of hope and their subsequent cancellations have been disappointments even more intense than the original wave. Although Bonnaroo was cancelled this year because of heavy rains and flooding, I worry that more and more events will have to be cancelled for the same reasons as climate change worsens. The reality is that the changing face of the world is going to present new logistical problems for the entertainment industry, but after the trials of the past year and a half I have boundless hope for the innovation of the world’s artists. Unfortunately Bonnaroo was unable to create a solution to present the festival, but soon enough I think new and innovative performance concepts are going to come from tragedies like Bonnaroo being cancelled.
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While it's unfortunate that the festival was cancelled and I sympathize with the ticket holders who feel let down for the second year in a row, neither this or last year's cancellations are really the fault of Bonnaroo. It seems that they're just trying to keep people safe and they are refunding tickets. Going to a music festival is a luxury activity and you have to take into account the possible loss of money if you have to cancel hotel bookings, plane tickets, etc. I also sympathize with the smaller artists who were supposed to perform, as Bonnaroo was likely going to be a big source of income and it’s already been a difficult year and a half for live performers. Thankfully the flooding happened before the festival started and thousands weren’t trying to evacuate at once. The same can’t be said for residents of Tennessee, many of whom lost their homes along with irreplaceable personal belongings. All over the U.S. it seems every day there is another disastrous flood, and over time we will only see more and more.
Bonnaroo made the right decision, but man does it still suck for everyone involved. While safety is always the top priority, the amount of money lost by attendees, artists, and the promoters is going to be astronomical because of this. The reactions from people on the internet however are quite out of line. People are extremely angry and upset over something that Bonnaroo couldn't even prevent. They could not have held a safe and dry festival no matter how hard they tried, and in the ticket agreement it says that customers won't get refunded for any travel costs incurred in case the event was cancelled.
This highlights the importance of proper event planning for emergencies. The promoters fell back on every resource and backup plan that they had, and only cancelled when it was evident that the event couldn't happen no matter what. The entertainment industry had to learn to be especially resilient this year, and I’m glad that caution extended to emergencies that aren’t covid.
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