Photo: Getty
The2021 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivalhas been canceled.
Festival organizers announced Sunday that the annual event, which typically takes place in late April and early May, has been canceled after being delayed to October, as coronavirus cases surge in the Big Easy.
The festival was set to feature stars likeThe Rolling Stones,Lizzo,Demi Lovato,Stevie Nicks,H.E.R.,Ludacris,Foo Fighters, Dead & Company, and more.
Jazz Fest was also canceled last due to the ongoing outbreak, with 2020 ticket holders promised at the time they could roll over vouchers to 2021. Now, organizers said that ticket holders can expect an email with more information on refunds and rollovers in hopes of the event returning next year. Meanwhile, all tickets for Oct. 13 will be refunded automatically.
Next year’s festival is scheduled for its traditional timeframe, starting April 29 to May 8, 2022.
Getty
The decision to cancel the 2021 Jazz Fest comes just as New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrellreintroduced a mandatory mask mandatefor the city on July 30 due to the highly contagiousdelta variant. During a press conference, she noted that the community saw over 1,000 new positive cases within a week, calling it a “very dangerous number.”
“Thanks to the delta variant, the COVID pandemic is once again raging out of control,” Cantrelltold the public. “We have been here before… and what was once unpreventable, today is preventable.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.
“Appropriate, but really disappointing. We believe that the Jazz Fest organizers made the right call, heartbreaking though it is,” Cantrell wrote. “The Delta variant has created an extremely dangerous environment— threatening the lives of our children and vulnerable populations and threatening our hopes for an economic recovery.”
“The need is all the more urgent for everyone to get vaccinated, and for everyone to mask up,” she added in a second statement.
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
