Following the cancellation of last year’s SunFest due to COVID-19, the West Palm Beach event’s organizers announced today that they will not move forward with a proposed “reimagined” 2021 festival. The event had been tentatively set to take place from April 30 – May 2 this spring.
Reached for clarification regarding what this year’s festival would have looked like, a representative said “SunFest was planning an abbreviated festival fit for the changing times. For the reimagined event, SunFest was hoping to expand the art shows, local music and street performers throughout downtown West Palm Beach which would all be free to the public. There would also be a separate ticketed concert area that would be used for individual concerts with a limited capacity for social distancing.”
In a press release announcing the decision, SunFest executive director Paul Jamieson said “While we knew that hosting a traditional SunFest would be challenging, we believed that the possible reward for our fans was worth the attempt. We were driven by the idea that our fans needed something to look forward to.
“We have seen a growing uncertainty from artists about putting their fans into a large music festival setting. Unfortunately, this is the current state of the touring industry,” Jamieson continued. “Given this feedback, we have determined that we cannot go forward for 2021. SunFest without enough notable musical artists simply is not SunFest, and we believe we owe our fans more than that.”
The 2022 iteration of the festival is set to take place from Thursday, April 28 through Sunday, May 1, 2022. Fans who purchased tickets for the 2020 festival and choose to roll them over to the 2022 event will now be able to bring a guest with them for free. For more information about SunFest or to inquire about the ticket roll-over plan, fans can visit www.SunFest.com or call 561/659-5980.
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