Roughly a year since the initial outbreak of COVID-19 saw events cancelled across Europe in 2020, the virus is beginning to wipe out some of summer 2021’s top German music festivals too. 

Rock am Ring is among the 2021 festival casualties

Event promoters Eventim announced the cancellations on Wednesday, confirming that several major music events including the popular Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals, held in Nürburgring and Nuremberg respectively, will not be held in 2021. 

Other cancelled events across Germany include the “Hurricane", "Deichbrand", "SonneMondSterne", "Greenfield" and "Southside" festivals. The cancellations come just weeks after other major European music festivals including Glastonbury in southern England were called off. 

The cancellations are another blow to the arts sector

Artists and creators have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic, with most clubs and performance venues having to close, or operate only online events since lockdown measures were first put into place. 

Eventim have confirmed that those in possession of tickets for the cancelled festivals will be given the opportunity to rebook their tickets for the following year.