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Paléo postponed until 2021

Writer's picture: CatherineCatherine

Yesterday's announcement that the 45th edition of Paléo Festival, has had to be postponed until 2021, was sad news, but perhaps inevitable under the current circumstances. The official announcement can be read in full below. For readers who have already bought advance tickets to the festival, see the Frequently Asked Questions at the end of this post. Also, at the end of this post, is a "best of the week" video from Paléo 2019. For those new to Nyon, it's a glimpse of Paléo (one of Europe's biggest music festivals) which is set in the grounds just above Nyon. More videos are on the Paléo site itself.



Photo above -courtesy Paléo. Stromae who played in front of 50,000 spectators in 2014. The Living in Nyon editor and writer Jonas Parsons have been covering Paléo for over 10 years, but we will be back in 2021! The 45th Festival will now take place from 19 to 25 July 2021. 

Photo above - C.Nelson-Pollard. Taking a rest from the music.

Official Paléo announcement Festival-goers, volunteers, artists, sponsors, partners, suppliers and close friends,

Dear all,

Given the extraordinary situation in which we find ourselves and the uncertainty of the summer events being upheld, it is with a heavy heart, but convinced we are making the right decision, that we announce the postponement of the 45th Paléo Festival until next year. The 45th Festival will now take place from 19 to 25 July 2021. We are currently working with the artists scheduled for 2020, including Céline Dion, in order to offer as much as possible, the same programme in 2021. Purchased tickets and passes remain valid for 2021.

Paléo has taken place every year since 1976. It is an incredible musical event, as well as a moment of celebration and togetherness, which has always been driven by strong values, a desire to rouse emotions and the energy and commitment of a team that includes 5000 volunteers, 65 permanent employees, a hundred or so suppliers, sponsors, stalls, service providers and friends.

We prepared a superb 45th anniversary edition of 7 days that we were impatient and proud to celebrate with you. We worked with heart for many months and were looking forward to offering a crazy line-up on a beautifully redesigned site, with new decors and stages. Organising Paléo is a huge task. But undoing and postponing it will undoubtedly be an equally complex challenge. And a painful one.

The Festival has lived through wonderful years as well as more difficult ones throughout its history but the health crisis relating to Covid-19 is clearly an unprecedented situation which has hit us all very hard. Our main priority is to guarantee the safety of our public, our teams, our artists as well as all the people involved in the organisation of Paléo. Our responsibility and values are at stake. This is the reason why we have taken the difficult decision to postpone the 45th edition of the Festival, which will now take place from 19 to 25 July 2021.

Moreover, even if summer festivals are not formally forbidden yet and the health conditions were met to organise an event for several thousand people in Switzerland at the end of July – which is not certain -, we still couldn’t guarantee the smooth running of the event. Paléo is a temporary city that welcomes some 50,000 people every day. All conditions must be met to start the huge construction work which relies on a whole chain of service providers, suppliers, artists, sponsors and technical teams. It’s highly likely that artists will postpone their tours and that the delivery of key equipment for the Festival will be hampered due to the current climate. In view of these elements, maintaining the Festival in July 2020 is not possible.

It's a tough break. This postponement will inevitably have heavy financial repercussions for the Festival. Indeed, as a non-profit organisation (non-subsidised), Paléo generates close to 80% of its revenue through the sale of tickets, food and beverage during the event. In this complex context, the organisation is working hard to mitigate the impact of this postponement. This sanitary crisis will undoubtedly also affect cultural stakeholders who find themselves with no concerts this summer, as well as our partners and suppliers and the hundreds of people, local associations and businesses with whom we have been collaborating faithfully for decades.

All purchased tickets and passes remain valid for the 45th Festival which will take place from 19 to 25 July 2021. We are currently working with the artists scheduled for 2020, including Céline Dion, in order to offer as much as possible, the same programme in 2021. We warmly thank you in advance for your patience and your understanding in this highly exceptional situation.

How can you help us? By keeping your tickets and passes on hand until July 2021! It is thanks to you and your fidelity that the continuity of Paléo can be assured. We understand, however, that postponing the festival to next year may not suit everyone. Therefore, for specific situations, we will do our best to set up a solution. This will take several weeks of work, but we will of course inform you as soon as possible.

We would like to thank you all: public, volunteers, partners, artists, farmers, sponsors, suppliers and everyone close and far who is involved in the Festival. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your unwavering support and your invaluable trust. We hope that the general spirit of solidarity in the face of this health crisis will last for the long term and will help overcome the challenges that lie ahead.

In the meantime, let’s help each other out, stay at home and thank the people who fight on the frontline every day so that we may put these trying times behind us and think about meeting up again as soon as possible! We will do everything in our power to organise an even better party in 2021 and celebrate a return to better days together.

Take good care of yourselves and of your loved ones.

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