Organizers have announced Summerfest 2021 has been pushed back to September due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, noting that it is in the public’s best interest “to give government leaders and healthcare organizations enough time to distribute the vaccine.”
The famous music festival is annually held at the end of June and the beginning of July. Summerfest 2021 will now be held Sept. 2-4, 9-11 and 16-18.
“We were advised that it’s going to take more time to get to the broader community to get people vaccinated than our June 23rd start date would have allowed so from the beginning we had a June plan and September plan and we just basically pushed the September button when we had all of the facts in front of us,” Milwaukee World Festival President & CEO Don Smiley said in a statement.
Summerfest dubs itself as “The World’s Largest Music Festival” and attracts approximately 800,000 people each summer. The festival will retain the three-weekend format, running Thursday through Saturday for three consecutive weekends.
“While the progress made through the vaccine rollout is encouraging, we believe it is in the public’s best interest to hold the festival in September to give government leaders and healthcare organizations enough time to distribute the vaccine,” Smiley said. “We will continue to work diligently with civic officials and healthcare professionals as we prepare to welcome artists, fans, employees, vendors and sponsorship partners this summer. Our team is excited to get back to what we do best, as soon as possible.”
