The global pandemic has changed the world forever. Indeed, several industries from all over the world have been crippled by the spread of the virus, as it has forced people to stay within there homes to curb the number of growing cases. The pandemic has also had some massive repercussions for the music industry. Many events, gigs, music festivals, and concerts had to be cancelled as they could be catastrophic when it comes to spreading the virus. And while the public’s safety must always come first, this has had dire effects on the music industry. Now that the world is slowly approaching normalcy signs of hope are also emerging from the music industry as the cancelled festivals and events are gearing up for a return. If you want to know more about this, read on for the 2020 events that have been rescheduled to 2021!
ECHO Festival
The ECHO Festival was supposed to be a massive cultural event that celebrated nature, all while providing the best of the local musical talent. It was founded by Ange Boxall in the hopes of bringing the heritage of east coast Tasmania closer to its people via a festival that put its local fare and culture at the forefront of the celebration. The festival is hosted by the Gala Estate at Cranbrook.
The festival will feature acts such as folk band Halfway to Forth, Kim Imber, Harpist Emily Sanzaro, Shadow Glass, and even an electronic set from DJ Hot Bear. This amalgamation of electronic DJ sets and folk music is a pretty accurate representation of what the festival wants to achieve, as it takes the old with the new — acoustic guitars and harps alongside new age DJ software. Luckily, the festival is still on track to continue albeit at a later date. The organisers have pushed the festival back to 26-28 March 2021 so be sure to keep your eyes open for more news and updates.
Dark Mofo
The 2020 version of Dark Mofo was supposed to have been one of the biggest festivals slated for this year. The festival started back in 2013 and is led by the initiative of the Museum of Old and New Art. Originally a winter version of the Museum of Old and New Art: Festival Of Music and Art, Dark Mofo puts Tasmanian Gothic at centre stage and this is reflected in its choice of artists and overall aesthetics.
One act that fans are missing out on this year is Sigur Ros. Sigur Ros is a post-rock band that combines classical music elements with art-rock techniques to create their unique sound. While difficult to imagine, fans at the festival would have witnessed how well the band’s music translates to live set-ups. However, fans will still get a chance to see this band and many other acts as the team behind Dark Mofo has confirmed that they will be rescheduled to 2021. One downside to his would be that Bon Iver, one of the main headliners, has also rescheduled his Australia tour for 2021. So it’s likely that Tassie fans will miss out on Bon Iver’s intricate looping sets.
Festival of Voices
Lastly, the Festival of Voices has also been postponed to next year. Not only is the Festival of Voices one of the biggest cultural festivals in Tasmania but is also one of the biggest gatherings of vocalists and choir groups in the country. This 10-day festival features the famous Bonfire and Big Sing event that gathers both guests and artists around a massive bonfire as they all sing along to celebrate music as one community.
In a statement released on their site, the Festival of Voices has confirmed that they will be remounting the festival next year from 30 June 30 to 11 July 2021. They did, however, push through with the Big Sing event this year via an online version of the event.
If you want to reminisce over one of the biggest festivals in recent years, you can check out our article on the last weekend of the final Party in the Paddock!
Written for tasmaniantimes.com by freelance writer Jennifer Birch.
