Organizers of two New Brunswick music festivals have pulled the plug on this year’s editions due to COVID-19.
Area 506 in Saint John and the Harvest Jazz & Blues festival in Fredericton had to be cancelled after the provincial government banned large gatherings for the rest of the year.
“We'll all take the next year to get stronger, rebuild, and come back better than ever,” read a message from promoters of Area 506, which was due to run July 31 to Aug. 2. “We look forward to bringing the festival back stronger than ever.”
A handful of large music festivals across Canada have yet to formally announce their cancellations, including July’s Cavendish Beach Music Festival in PEI and Ontario’s Boots & Hearts country music festival and the Veld festival of EDM in August. Organizers of Ottawa’s Bluesfest have said they will make an announcement next week.
At least one expert and one elected official have said concerts and festivals will not happen again until 2021.