Governors Ball Will Return In Late September

Noam Galai/WireImage

Governors Ball Will Return In Late September

Noam Galai/WireImage

We’ve been hearing encouraging things about live music potentially being able to come back this fall, but it seems wild to think that people are actually planning large-scale music festivals for this year, proceeding under the assumption that the COVID-19 vaccine will roll out as planned. Still, it’s happening. Bonnaroo is supposedly going to take place on Labor Day weekend. Some other fall and late-summer festivals — Riot Fest, Aftershock, Osheaga — have even started to unveil lineups. And now the organizers of New York’s Governors Ball festival, which usually happens in June, are saying that Gov Ball will happen in fall 2021.

Last year, Governors Ball had a lineup that featured people like Tame Impala, Missy Elliott, Vampire Weekend, Stevie Nicks, and Miley Cyrus. Shortly after the pandemic hit, Gov Ball cancelled its 2020 edition. But today, festival organizers tweeted that this year’s Gov Ball will happen 9/24-26 and that this year’s lineup is “coming soon.”

Billboard reports that festival producers Founders Entertainment are justifying their decision in a press release: “We’ve decided to move the 2021 show to a time of year that is both more realistic and safer for all… And while there are still question marks and unknowns in the World, rest assured that we are working closely with City and State authorities to ensure that the next Gov Ball will be a safe and amazing experience.” I don’t know why Founders capitalized the word “World,” and I also don’t know why they used a photo of vast throngs of people in their Twitter announcement. The idea of going to a big festival in September seems pretty stressful right now!

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