Covid 19 has been a gamechanger in terms of all group events and of course ukulele live festivals have all understandably been wiped out. As someone who is married to a medic and who in my non musical life is working with virology PHD students, I realised back in January we are in for a big problem.
Every musician I know has had ALL gigs cancelled and all festivals around the world are cancelled. The more optimistic folks will think of such events as “postponed” and many understandably are hoping ticket purchasers will either waive a refund or transfer into a rescheduled event in 2021.
The problem globally is that without any medical solution, social distancing will remain in place for some time. Indoor events like theatres may be allowed 25% capacity but as with indoor festivals, that’s not really economically viable. Outside festivals may have a better chance of course, but they will IMO not be the same.
Most uke events are social as opposed to music based and “mass jams” etc don’t really work in a live capacity in the same way. The other issue is that once people start feeling apprehensive about any danger of being in large groups that will reduce interest. Another challenge is that with the inevitable change in the economy, many people may not be able to afford the luxury of attending such events. A weekend ticket may be 50 pounds per person, add in accommodation, food, travel and workshops and you can quickly reach many times that figure
Online “festivals?”
There have been some attempts to translate the festival experience to an online format. One live streaming event was well conducted, but pre recorded clips of artists playing at hope are lets face it, a very long way away from a true “festival experience” Nothing wrong with the medium but its really watching video footage with no live interaction that is at the core of any festival experience
Conclusion
Nobody knows what will happen in the next two years. I suspect all festivals cancelled in 2020 will also be cancelled in 2021 unless a major medical solution is found and then dispensed to the greater public inside 12 months. I feel for all those people financially involved in running such events and I suspect many that are often run on a shoestring with Arts funding, will disappear as they won’t be viable. New online formats may appear, but I suspect the live mass gatherings will be on hold for some time to come.
The main thing for now is STAY SAFE. Yes, mass meets are fun, but the possibility of death does reduce my enthusiasm for any attendance!
NC
“gamechanger”… well, there you said it right away!
And it’s a very radical one too!
And then there is that 1st sentence of your 4th paragraph that i was always subconsciously aware of… still it somewhat hit me. Uke events are indeed VERY MUCH social based… sometimes to a point where the actual music/performance/show takes a backseat…
Thanks for the reply. YES, the fact that many uke festivals are primarily social meet ups where often the audiences prfer to do mass strums on their own rather than listen to artists poses a real problem for promoters. I think its gonna be a couple of years before there is any more such events. Nobody of course knows how things will pan out and lets face it even the biggest uke specific festivals are only a few hundred people and that’s tiny compared to the big pop events, many of which are far more established and way more popular.