Reading & Leeds Festival won’t be continuing this year as originally hoped

Back in March, Reading & Leeds Festival announced that the U.K. festival was still scheduled to go on as planned despite coronavirus concerns. With headliners including Stormzy, Liam Gallagher, Rage Against The Machine, and more, the highly-anticipated festival was scheduled to happen August 28-30.

Now, it has been announced that the summer festival will not be taking place this year.

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It will come as no surprise to many that Reading & Leeds Festival 2020 has been canceled. The U.K. festival is one of many worldwide that has been canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. More recently, Mayhem Festival, Bunbury Festival, Welcome To Rockville and Glastonbury have all been canceled this year.

For Reading & Leeds, the ongoing pandemic in the U.K. along with Prime Minister Boris Johnson‘s recent announcement of plans to reopen the country has prohibited the festival from happening in 2020.

Since the pandemic began, Festival Republic, the organizers for Reading & Leeds, have been closely monitoring coronavirus developments. However, for health and safety reasons, they decided the festival will not happen this August.

“We’ve been closely monitoring this unprecedented situation, and we were hopeful we could deliver the ultimate festival to you in August, something to look forward to in these strange and confusing times,” Festival Republic organizers say in the statement. “However, it’s become clear that it’s just not possible for this year’s festival to go ahead.”

Festival organizers also say they are working to process refunds for the festival. However, those that carry tickets for the canceled 2020 festival will be able to use their tickets for next year’s festival.

“We are working closely with our ticketing partners,” the statement says. “And they will be in touch very soon to process your refund. If you prefer, you can retain your ticket and carry it over to next year. Look out for an email from your ticketing agent and please only contact them if you have not been contacted after 7 days as they are very busy at this time. If you purchased your ticket from a physical outlet, please contact that outlet to obtain your refund.”

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Recently, ticketing companies including Live Nation, Ticketmaster, AEG and more have been under fire for their refund policies for postponed and rescheduled shows. They are currently facing a number of lawsuits from customers who are unable to obtain refunds for their rescheduled events.

Although the future of live music is uncertain at this time, Reading & Leeds Festival remains optimistic. The festival plans to make its return next August in 2021.

“We’re already counting down the days to when we’re back in the fields we call home for the August Bank holiday weekend,” the statement says. “We promise you that Reading and Leeds 2021 will be worth the wait.”

Alongside this year’s headliners, notable acts such as All Time LowWaterparksFEVER 333 and Creeper were scheduled to perform.

The historic festival began in 1955 and has since had various headliners including Red Hot Chili PeppersNirvanaMy Chemical RomancePost Malone and blink-182.

The full lineup of the canceled 2020 festival is available to view below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8a4fo3jkZe/?utm_source=ig_embed

Who were you most looking forward to seeing at this year’s Reading & Leeds Festival? Let us know in the comments below!

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