BOISE, Idaho — The Boise Music Festival will be canceled for 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to throw a wrench in the music industry, a Boise radio station announced Monday.
Instead, the full-day festival will be postponed until summer of 2022, according to 103.5 KISS-FM, an affiliate of Townsquare Media, which puts on the event.
This is the second year in a row that the pandemic has scuttled plans for the Boise Music Festival. The 2020 event, scheduled for June, was also canceled amid concerns about safety.
"We don't have to tell you that COVID-19 wreaked havoc on live events and the entertainment business," 103.5 KISS-FM DJ Mateo wrote in a post. "Even while the pandemic was going on, the planning team behind Boise Music Festival was working with the nation's largest talent pools and record labels to make sure a move could be made for 2021 the second it was possible. Unfortunately, the industry as a whole just isn't there yet."
Organizers for the event have struggled to get artists to commit to performing at an event that may or may not take place, Mike Owens said, President of Townsquare Media in Boise.
“Some of the bands we had booked last year it was really easy, they said they’re in for 2021 and they’re ready to go, but to get anyone new that we hadn’t booked yet – the agents have kind of been dragging their feet a little," Owens added. "We had been planning this for the last 8 or 9 months and it just wasn’t quite there yet.”
Pushing the large festival later in the year would have eliminated the possibility of having carnival rides and other attractions, according to the radio station.
"All of this said, while we're sad to share this news we do want to share the brighter side of the news as well," Mateo wrote. "Boise Music Festival WILL return, on June 25th, 2022!"
“Realize this isn’t an easy decision and we all want to get back to some kind of normalcy," Owens added. “Live music will be back sooner than later, we just have to be a little patient.”
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