Yet another music festival has been cancelled due to the continuing coronavirus pandemic, with the promoters of Canberra event Anthems Festival (scheduled for 28 March at Commonwealth Park) regretfully announcing it will not go ahead.
Icehouse, The Temper Trap and Eskimo Joe had been scheduled to headline Anthems, which was returning after a year's hiatus under new management.The promoters have issued the following statement:
"With conflicting information and uncertainty around the coronavirus and the announcement by the World Health Organisation of an international pandemic we are seeing a large increase in cancellations of events globally this week.
"The health and safety of our patrons, artists, and staff is always paramount at any of our events and we believe the right course of action is to not put anyone at unnecessary risk, and also to ensure the festival remains a regular feature on the ACT events calendar.
"Although we don't like what's happening to our live music and arts industry as a result of this panic, to proceed when there is so much uncertainty in the market could affect the viability of the event for the Canberran community in the future.
"We would like to thank everyone for the fantastic support Anthems has received this year and we can't wait to see you in 2021.
"An announcement regarding the 2021 event will be made in due course." - Promoters of Anthems
The statement also mentioned that all customers who purchased a ticket will receive a refund (including fees) directly to the account used to purchase. At this time, they expect all refunds to be processed within 14 days.
