Discussion: On The Precipice - Festivals

Organising a festival is always a stressful affair, but this year has brought the entire festival network to the brink of collapse, with responses to the impact of COVID-19 including cancellations, postponements, and moving online. What kinds of decisions — economic, legal, health-related, ethical, creative — do festivals face as we head into 2021? What does the future of festivals look like? Will all survive? Finally, from an ecological perspective, is the pre-pandemic model even sustainable? Should we focus on the local? And, if we focus on the local - where does that leave artists and festivals in areas geographically distant from the main touring circuits, feeding directly into the question of lineup diversity. Participants include festival directors Adam Krefman (Pitchfork / Chicago), Enric Palau (Sonar / Barcelona), Chico Dub (Novas Frequências / Rio), Gosia Plysa (Unsound / Krakow), Arlen Dilsizian (Nyege Nyege / Uganda) and Frankie Decaiza Hutchinson (Dweller / New York). Moderated by Lisa Blanning.

You can join the Zoom discussion here.

This event is free of charge, but you can support it and donate here. This event is a part of Unsound LAB 2020.