South Australian event Umbrella Festival has had to move its 2020 dates to later in the year, in response to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. The festival has also waived the $25 registration fee for all events and venues.
Umbrella Festival is now slated to run 18 September till 4 October. "This has obviously been an exceptionally trying time for Australia and the world. The music industry, particularly live music, has been devastated by the COVID-19 crisis."We hope there is a recovery globally and in Australia in this time. If circumstances change, and it is deemed unsafe to go ahead with our new dates, we will cancel by 1 July, 2020."
Each year since it started, Umbrella has grown in gigs by 30 per cent. Last year saw the largest increase in event registrations, rising by 89 per cent and totalling 380 live music events across 111 venues.
"We want to aid the resurgence of live local music, and hope that Umbrella's new dates will help facilitate this. With this aim in mind, Umbrella Festival will be waiving the $25 event registration fee, now with FREE registration for ALL events and venues.
"Registrations are still open, and will be open for print in our programme till 1 July. Tickets go on sale from 22 July. We sincerely hope you are all staying safe through this trying period."
Click here to register your event or venue.
Formerly called Umbrella: Winter City Sounds, the rebranded Umbrella Festival is a three-week, open-access contemporary live music festival celebrating SA's thriving live music culture.
Music SA CEO Lisa Bishop says: "By the time Umbrella Festival comes around in spring, we envisage that people who have been forcibly separated from live music will be yearning to get together.
"We believe audiences will come back with added appreciation and desire for the sense of community and connectedness that Umbrella Festival and live music provide.
"We want to help in the financial recovery of musicians and venues, so we are waiving the registration fee so more people can get involved."
