Where were you when the world went inside?
For Festival Squad, we were riding on a high from our annual member retreat in which we planned and prepared for what would have been one of our biggest festival seasons yet. We were ecstatic to share highlights from some of the biggest festivals in the scene, and put you guys onto some awesome up and comers. We never could have imagined a global pandemic occurring and shutting down our beloved music industry.
It’s wild, now, to think we’d conquer this virus in two weeks. Ya know, just stay home, watch Netflix and make bread. We’d ride it out together. Well, ride it out we have, but unfortunately, it took more than two weeks and millions of jobs and lives lost. And although our global community is still dealing with the ongoing battle against COVID-19, some light is beginning to creep through the cracks.
More and more individuals are receiving the COVID-19 vaccines. Which in turn has helped us begin to get back to a more or less normal life, whatever post-pandemic normal may be to you. To us that means watching our colleagues in the music industry get back to doing what they love. It’s seeing light designers illuminate our cherished venues that have gone dark for too long. It’s booking agents and promoters reveling in exciting new events to share with our community. It’s welcoming back all the stage hands, tour managers, artists, security personnel, concessions and sound engineers back to work. Most importantly, it’s about welcoming back all the fans of every genre of music all across the country and globe. Our industry would not survive without you, so thank you.
Moving forward, things won’t be exactly the same as we left them. A lot has changed. The pandemic has shed a light on serious concerns that we hope, as a community, we can address and improve to make a more hospitable and just environment for all. With that hope and a keen sense of responsibility, we here at Festival Squad have used our time in quarantine to better ourselves and our publication. We are listening, learning and growing, and will continue to do so to provide our readers with quality content that highlights not only your favorite artists but your local small businesses, fest families, social issues, and more.
This publication has always been and always will be about the squad, aka all of you! We are your peers and your biggest supporters. It’s been a difficult year for everyone, but together we pushed through, and together we will return to the festival space with more love, kindness and deep dubs than ever before!
We look forward to sharing the culture and all the hot ass music so many artists have been sitting on for more than a year! Welcome back friends, we look forward to dancing with all your lovely, smiling faces!
Stay safe, stay masked, and we will see you all soon!