Due to public health concerns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Live from the Rock Folk Festival originally scheduled to take place Aug. 7-9, 2020 has now been cancelled.
With a string of community events and large public gatherings being cancelled at the advice and direction of public health officials and the province of Ontario, event organizers have taken into consideration planning, logistics and the timeline of activities required to hold the Live from the Rock Folk Festival and determined that there are too many unknown variables at this time to organize a safe and successful August event.
“Every year for the past 17 years, the Live from the Rock Blues & Folk Society has proudly presented a festival that brings the community and region together to celebrate music and the arts on the north shore of Lake Superior and this will be the first time in the organization’s history that the festival will not be happening,” says Laura Foulds, Festival Chair. “Although cancelling the 18th annual festival was a difficult decision, it was absolutely the right one to make as the health, safety and wellbeing of the entire Live from the Rock community, as well as our greater community and region, is the top priority.”
Festival organizers hope that the next festival can be held during the second weekend of August 2021 when and if it is safe to reopen public parks and host public gatherings in Ontario.
“Live from the Rock has an amazing group of dedicated volunteers, sponsors and supporters of the festival who remain committed to the continued success of this amazing community experience,” adds Foulds. “We are confident that when the festival returns and it is safe for everyone to be together again, the next event will be one of the best yet since in addition to music, art, family and community, together we will all have so much more to appreciate and celebrate.”
