The “Best Damn Music Festival” has been postponed until August 12th and 13th, 2022.
The festival was supposed to happen this weekend with many country artists including headliners Dean Brody and Brett Kissel, but organizer Kyle Sampson says the rapidly changing COVID-19 landscape made it impossible to happen.
“When we went out and started planning the Best Damn Music Festival we waited as long as we could to ensure we had the best crystal ball outlook on what was going to come and really the landscape looked very different back six weeks ago,” he said.
Both Dean Brody and Brett Kissel have agreed to play at the postponed event, but the rest of the setlist has yet to be finalized.
According to Sampson, the new restrictions implemented in Northern Health due to the rising COVID-19 cases in the region made it impossible for the event to adhere to restrictions.
He adds he wants the event to be safe and take place without putting a burden on our local health care system, especially since the number of people hospitalized in the North has been climbing.
“Things change quickly, it’s a pandemic and although we wanted to bring something of great significance to Prince George, we also want to make sure that we’re acting in a way that is safe and compliant with health orders.”
Tickets purchased to the event will be honoured when the festival takes place in August, but refunds are also available between September 13th and October 1st through the Tickets North/CN Centre Box Office.
However, current ticket holders will also be entered to win a VIP upgrade for the new 2022 dates if they decide to keep them.
“Nobody wanted to make this move, nobody wanted to postpone the event but the reality is that’s what we’re facing and that’s what everybody has been facing of all types of businesses and personal experiences over the last 18-19 months,” Sampson added.