(CelebrityAccess) — Destination festival promoter CID Presents announced plans to move forward with their slate of 2022 destination festivals, despite the Omicron surge and the cancellation of Dead & Company’s Playing In The Sand festival.
The festival, which was scheduled to take place in Cancun last weekend, was canceled at the 11th hour after John Mayer dropped out of some performances after being diagnosed with COVID-19, and drummer Bill Kreutzmann backed out for health issues.
Despite the setbacks, promoter CID Presents told Billboard that they are moving forward with other destination events planned for this year, including Luke Bryan’s Crash My Playa, which is scheduled for Jan. 19-22 and Hootie and the Blowfish’s The Big Splash, which takes place the week after from Jan. 26-29.
“As we all know this is an ever-evolving situation and the rise and fall of COVID-19 over the past several months has been outside of our control. We are continuing to monitor the latest guidelines and recommendations from both the U.S. & Mexican governments as well as our on-site medical teams,” CID Presents said in a statement provided to Billboard.
However, they hedged their bets and noted that if the situation on the ground changes, they may be forced to postpone some or all of the scheduled destination concerts.
“If, at any point during the two weeks leading up to a particular event, the CDC Risk Assessment Level for COVID-19 for the Quintana Roo (Cancún) region of Mexico rises to a Level 4 or Mexico designates the area unsafe to hold an event we will be offering full refunds to those not wishing to attend the particular event and will work closely with the artists and their representatives to determine if an event should be cancelled. At this time, we are taking this situation day by day and event by event,” CID Presents told Billboard.
Other destination concerts on the books for CID Presents this year include Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds whose sold-out Moon Palace is scheduled for Feb 18-20; Phish, who head for the Riviera Maya from February 24-27; and My Morning Jacket, whose One Big Holiday lands in Cancun from March 2-5.
