Music SA has announced, that due to the just-announced 7-day lockdown in South Australia, the Umbrella Festival will be paused until the Level 5 restrictions are lifted by the South Australian Government.
After a hiatus in 2020, the open-access live music festival is only five days into its annual event, which boasts a live music program of more than 170 events across South Australia between Friday 16 July and Sunday 8 August. Unfortunately, across the 7-day lockdown period, 80 live music performances across 40 venues will be cancelled, with hopes of postponing them for a later date.
Music SA General Manager Kim Roberts regrets to announce the pause of Umbrella Festival during the South Australian lockdown. “We were so thrilled for Umbrella to return after the devastating impacts on the Australian live music industry in 2020. This news is really difficult for us to be faced with only five days into our 2021 festival, but obviously, everyone’s safety is paramount,” she states.
“The Music SA team have been working hard on delivering Umbrella over the past 18 months, putting as many contingencies in place as possible to adhere to social distancing requirements. But the cancellation of over 80 live music performances over the next week is something that we hoped not to be faced with. It’s heartbreaking for everyone involved.”
Music SA Chair Anne Wiberg states “It is another blow to artists, venues, all the crew and related staff in the music industry who are again not able to deliver live music performances. We are sad to announce the pause of this year’s Umbrella Festival, however, as soon as we have the opportunity, we are set to make these gigs happen.”
The annual winter celebration of live music was set to feature 294 performances across 38 contemporary music genres in 85 venues across Adelaide’s CBD, metropolitan suburbs and South Australia’s regional areas including the Eyre Peninsula, the Barossa, the Adelaide Hills and the Fleurieu Peninsula. An extension of the 7-day South Australian lockdown will sadly further increase the number of live music performance cancellations.
As Umbrella Festival is an open-access event (open for all to participate in), the festival itself does not directly sell tickets to events. Ticketholders for events that are cancelled or postponed are advised to contact the ticket platform that their tickets were purchased through for more details. Music SA will be working with Umbrella venues, artists and promoters to support them through these changes.
“In the meantime, we encourage everyone to continue to support their favourite SA venues and artists in ways that are possible, such as holding on to tickets for postponed events and buying band merch and music,” states Ms Roberts.
All other updates relating to the festival as a whole will be communicated via the Music SA and Umbrella Festival websites, social media and also email correspondence over the coming days. For more information, visit: www.umbrellafestival.com.au for details.
Image: Umbrella Festival in Adelaide’s Rundle Mall – photo by Helen Page