The past few weeks have witnessed the cancellation or postponement of major events due to the threat of coronavirus. Now, in gutting news, Download Festival has been forced to cancel the 2020 instalment of the festival over public health concerns.
Download 2020 was set to be an absolutely monolithic affair. My Chemical Romance was set to headline the event with one of their first live performances since their reformation. They were set to be joined by Sacramento heroes Deftones, pop-punk stalwarts Jimmy Eat World and a bunch more of the finest heavy names in the game.
After being forced to pull out of the Japan leg of Download Festival, My Chemical Romance announced today that they would be unable to make the Australian leg of the tour.
“To our dearest friends – It is with heavy hearts that we have decided to postpone our performances in Australia and New Zealand,” the band shared in a statement. “We felt this was the right decision for our fans, our band, our crew, and our families given the current global situation. We apologize to our fans, but please know that we didn’t come to this decision lightly. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to being with you all again as soon as we can. In the meantime, please be good to each other.”
Whilst we’re truly heartbroken that we won’t be able to live out our teenage dreams by fingerpointing fervently to ‘I’m Not Okay’ the health of the public is exponentially more important. As a result of Download Australia not being able to secure a headliner to the standard that fans deserve, they’ve made the decision to pull the plug on the 2020 instalment of the festival.
“As we are unable to deliver a complete line-up to meet the standard that Download fans both expect and deserve, we have very reluctantly made the decision to cancel Download Australia 2020,” the festival shared in a statement.
“The Download team has been working around the clock to create an unforgettable experience for heavy music fans and we are devastated not be able to deliver this show to Australian Downloaders as planned.”
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It’s not all bad news though. Download has assured punters that they’re working round the clock to organise both My Chemical Romance and Deftones to schedule headline shows in Australia in 2020.
They’re also working with a bunch of artists on the lineup who have official sideshows scheduled, to add headline shows in Sydney and Melbourne so hold tight.
Download joins one of the many festival’s impacted by coronavirus; a global pandemic that has not only affected people around the world, but has infected over 114,000 and killed more than 4,000.
While discussions over the status of the Tokyo Olympics remain on the table, this last weekend saw the announcement that South By Southwest will not be going ahead this month, as well as Coachella Festival.
