Manchester’s Parklife festival, which is held annually in June, has announced that it will take place from September 11-12th 2021. The event which has an 80,000 capacity, was cancelled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The festival will take place in the city’s Heaton Park and was originally scheduled for the 12-13th June, but after ongoing concerns that have arisen from the pandemic, this has been pushed back to later in the year.
The 2020 edition which was cancelled in March, was due to host performances by musical talent such as Lewis Capaldi, Skepta, Robyn and Tyler and The Creator. NME reported that after the festival was cancelled, organisers promised a return in 2021 to be ‘Stronger than ever,’ before releasing the June 2021 dates this August.
Music Week have noted the statement given by the festival organisers saying, “With all the good recent news, we’re now looking ahead to 2021, and a return to the fields and good times we all love,” said a statement on the festival’s website. “It’s a party two years in the making that we all deserve. It’s why with that in mind that we have decided to move next year’s festival to the new dates of 11th-12th September, so we can be sure of the good times coming. A huge line-up is almost ready, that we can’t wait to show you in January. Trust us when we say it’s going to be worth the wait.”
The CEO of Live Nation, Michael Rapino told NME in a recent interview that he expects a “robust, outdoor Summer season,” for the live music industry upon it’s return next year. He mentioned that the ‘Download Festival’ and ‘Isle of Wight Festival’ were already ahead in their ticket sales than the previous year. “Importantly, we remain confident that fans will return to live events when it is safe to do so,” he wrote. “Our strongest indicator of demand is that fans are holding on to their tickets, even when given the option of a refund.” He added, “Our expectations for a robust outdoor summer season in 2021 are also reinforced by the two-thirds of fans keeping their tickets for cancelled festivals so they can go to next year’s show, along with strong early ticket sales for festivals in the UK next summer,”
Manchester Parklife is a independent music festival that began in 2010 and was co founded by Sacha Lord. It began in Platt Fields Park in Rusholme, but as the numbers increased with the festivals popularity in 2013, the festival moved to Heaton Park In North Manchester. It is now jointly organised by other groups which include ‘Live Nation’ and ‘The Warehouse Project.’
As the return of 2000 spectators at outdoor sports events is now in place, festival organisers will be keen to know the governments plans for outdoor music events next Summer so that they can begin to put measures in place, to allow a safe environment for the festivals to go ahead. With ticket sales still booming for live music events, it is clear that the public are eagerly waiting for this news, along with those that work in the live music sector.
