Photo Credit: BST Hyde Park
BST Hyde Park 2020, slated for July, is now canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Event organizers took to Twitter to make the official announcement. BST was due to host some of the biggest names in music — Post Malone, Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Pearl Jam, and more.
“It is with great sadness that we have made the difficult decision to cancel BST Hyde Park 2020,” the official statement reads. “After closely following government actions and statements during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have concluded that this is the only possible outcome.”
The BST Hyde Park 2020 event would have been the 8th year of the festival. Organizers say they don’t want to put any extra strain on emergency services due to the event. Ticket agents will contact ticket holders by May 6th for the refund process.
BTS Hyde Park organizers are asking ticket holders to please wait until after May 6th to request refunds not received.
“If you have not been contacted about a refund by your ticket agent by this date, please get in touch with them directly, bearing in mind they will be extremely busy at this time,” the statement reads.
Sadly, it’s already apparent that securing refunds could be a difficult task. Elsewhere, struggling ticket brokers like StubHub have flat-out refused to issue refunds despite earlier pledges.
BST Hyde Park organizers say they look forward to welcoming everyone back in 2021. The festival organizers will be in touch about future plans for the concert soon.
With concerts as late as July now nixing their dates, the cancellation train continues to grow. It now appears that coronavirus social distancing requirements and business shutdowns could last longer than April 30th, as the US government is predicting.
Meanwhile, live ticketing companies like Eventbrite are already struggling to stay afloat. The company laid off 45% of its staff today, with the music division hit particularly hard. Other festivals like Coachella postponed their dates instead of outright canceling this year’s show, though that strategy could backfire.
Others are simply sitting it out until 2021. That includes Justin Bieber, who recently canceled his entire 45-date 2020 tour in favor of starting next year.