Green Man waiting on government-backed insurance to hold 2021 festival

Green Man Festival have given fans an update on the status of their 2021 event, set to take place in late August in the Brecon Beacons in Wales.

After cancelling their 2020 edition due to COVID-19 restrictions, Green Man announced plans to return in 2021 back in February.

With remaining tickets sold last month, the festival have now revealed that they’re waiting on further advice from the government and hoping for a COVID insurance package in order to host their 2021 festival as planned on the weekend of August 19-22.

In a message to fans, they wrote: “To our Green Man family – big thanks for your patience and support. We know how much you want Green Man to happen this year and we’ve been doing all that we can to make it so in this incredibly challenging time.

“We’ve had a huge response following the Welsh and UK Government announcements and it is great to see large sports events opening up. Unfortunately this doesn’t mean that Green Man can definitely take place too, as this opportunity hasn’t been extended to festivals at the moment.”

Citing successful test events across England and Wales, the festival added that “unfortunately we just don’t know when restrictions will be lifted in Wales.”

“We’re also waiting for an update on government-backed festival insurance in the case of a forced Covid cancellation. This would be a crucial lifeline for us and all UK festivals right now,” they added.

“Frankly, this has been a very difficult time, not just for Green Man, but for the many thousands of amazing festivals that bring people together across the land. We wish them well and hope we can all return to the thing we love best – creating wonderful memories and making people happy.”

The message continued: “Your love and enthusiasm for Green Man has been a massive inspiration for all of us during this time and we desperately want GM21 to go ahead too. So many people have been working for months to create a great festival and we really hope that we have a chance to show you what that looks like.

“Information changes daily so we need a bit more time to digest the latest developments and work out how much longer we can continue preparing for the festival in light of recent news.”

The message concluded with the festival saying they hope to have more news for ticket holders next week.

Last week, it was revealed that just 28 people who attended pilot events researching the impact of large-scale gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic tested positive for the virus.

The new data was released by scientists working for the UK government’s Events Research Programme (ERP), which was commissioned in February to help determine the roadmap out of lockdown restrictions. It comes following initial results first shared last month.

The news follows industry figures criticising the government for failing to publish the full results of more recent COVID event pilots, such as Download Festival and Ascot, or providing festivals with insurance, which would help get live entertainment back on its feet safely.

Festivals including Truck and Kendall Calling announced the cancellation of their July events last week, following the delay to the government’s final exit out of lockdown restrictions, lack of published data and general lack of guidance. A new survey revealed that half of UK festivals have now been cancelled this year.

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