The organizers of the festival “Country Bauska” have come up with a rather unexpected message: it has been decided to cancel this year’s event. “The decision was made taking into account the situation that has developed after the two-year pandemic and the subsequent restrictions, as well as the position of the festival’s cooperation partners about what is happening in Ukraine,” the organizers said.
In 2022, the Country Bauska Festival would have taken place for the 22nd time. It was intended to hear such musicians as Jessica Lynn (USA), Doug Adkins (USA), “Creedence Tribute” (LT), Shota Adamashvili (GE), as well as such popular artists in Latvia as “Wanderer”, “Dakota”, “Sixth Mile ”,“ The Rolltones ”and others. The festival has been postponed to the summer of 2023, when the situation in the world will have stabilized, and again there will be an opportunity to celebrate the country music festival in Bauska in large numbers.
The producer of the festival Uldis Ozoliņš emphasizes that the event should take place at the highest level, as usual. “It simply came to our notice then. Our overseas guest artists have also canceled all European concerts this summer. We hope that this will be possible in a year’s time. We are canceling this event, but we are starting to work on a full two-day event in 2023. ” Within a month, it is planned to return the money to all visitors who had purchased tickets to the 22nd Country Music Festival.
“The situation in terms of gathering restrictions has improved and it has become possible to hold large events in Latvia. Of course, I am glad that everything has settled in this respect, but in the end of one thing, quite another has begun – terrible events in Ukraine, ”said one of the festival’s producers Mārtiņš Jātnieks Borkovskis. “It affects us all, including our event – first of all, it is a financial situation where we have had a lot of discussions with our partners and understood that the planned cooperation will not be possible this year, because the priority this year is not entertainment, and I understand them very well. Secondly, the guest artists we have invited do not want to go to Europe to perform at our event, doubting their safety. Thirdly, seeing the advance sale of tickets, we do not see that we will be strong enough by the end of April to be able to organize the event at a high level. All this prevents us from organizing a festival this summer as well, within the framework of which not only a very colorful music program was planned, but also a number of other activities, ”explains Mārtiņš. “I am convinced that there are loyal friends of country music in Latvia, so let’s not bother and look to the future. We are open to ideas and invite every enthusiast to join us in contacting us to have a great event next year. ”
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