For obvious reasons, the 2021 installment of the beloved New Year’s event Beyond The Valley will not be a camping festival.

Though don’t fear, the festival is still slated to go ahead, albeit in a different capacity. “While we had full intention of making a triumphant comeback in our usual format this year, the reality is the situation in Australia remains volatile and the threat of snap lockdowns makes planning a large-scale camping festival unfeasible,” Beyond The Valley wrote in a statement.

“Planning an event like this takes significant investment, months of planning and weeks of set up time,” the statement continued. “With no insurance currently available for events and no concrete timeline for music festivals to return, we’ve sadly made the decision that Beyond The Valley will not be operating as a 4 day camping event this year.

“The prospect of facing a last minute cancellation is too crushing, potentially causing a blow we would not be able to come back from and shattering all of your New Year’s plans.”

Instead of a four-day camping extravaganza, Beyond the Valley is working tooth and nail with relevant government authorities in planning a special one-off event set to take place at an inner-city location over December 30th and 31st. Brilliant news for those, like me, who like to end their nights with an elaborate skincare regime.

“After exploring all possible avenues we can assure you that we’re taking the approach which gives us the best chance of being all together this New Year’s and providing you with a summer festival experience you deserve after an incredibly tough year,” Beyond the Valley wrote.

The lineup and venue for the forthcoming festival are both confirmed, with Beyond The Valley promising news shortly. After all this wretched year has thrown at us, we deserve to end it with a bang.

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In the words of the festivals promoters, “Music festivals enable us to leave our day-to-day struggles behind, have the time of our lives with our friends, enjoy live music and connect with likeminded people.”

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