Dutch festivals affected by Coronavirus will offer refunds in 2021

The Coronavirus pandemic has really taken an enormous toll on the world, especially hitting hard at the music industry. One of the first businesses that were forced to close their doors were various event management companies from all around the world, and many of them still remain closed, without knowing when they will be able to return and continue organising their events. The Netherlands is no exception to that, with a ban on all big public gatherings until a vaccine for Coronavirus is found. The majority of these kind of festivals, parties and other events were postponed to 2021, and some were even cancelled.

Now, the Dutch sector has developed an initiative called the Corona Crisis Ticket Scheme or ‘Save your ticket’, which encourages the ticket holders to save their tickets and to support the music industry by attending the postponed events. It has been developed with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and is following the rules of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets. The initiative applies when a postponed festival is rescheduled to 2021, as long as it’s no more than 13 months on from the original date.

To name some festivals that are following this scheme: Awakenings, Mysteryland, Amsterdam Open Air, Lowlands, Woo Hah!, Pinkpop and Down The Rabbit Hole, Dekmantel, Free Your Mind, Solar Weekend and Music On Festival; most of these are organised by the Dutch event management giants ID&T and MOJO. The idea behind the Corona Crisis Ticket Scheme is that the refunds for ticket holders will be issued only after the rescheduled event has taken place in 2021, hence people will have to wait over a year for their refunds, if they choose not to attend the postponed event. Of course not everyone is fond of the idea, but a lot of fans were supportive about it. The initiative’s website states:

“As a consumer, you are always entitled to a refund of the ticket price. However, the current corona crisis means that the financial impact is so big for the sector that [clubs, venues, etc.] could go bankrupt, should everyone with a ticket reclaim their money.”

The majority of other festivals around the world are already offering refunds or vouchers for the events that got postponed due to Coronavirus, but with an initiative like this, the companies and the festival will have a much better probability of surviving the year, which is definitely very challenging in current times, without their regular earnings and people asking for refunds. Let’s support the industry, save our tickets and celebrate together in 2021.

Image Credit: Awakenings Festival (Press) / Provided by The Media Nanny