Festival: No Live Events, Working On Virtual
Due to the uncertainty about gathering and traveling, the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts said “it is impossible for the Festival to go ahead as planned this year,” and “as an alternative to live events, the Festival is working to offer a series of exciting virtual events.”
A spokesperson said, “Since the arrival of Covid-19 upon our shores, it has been the commitment of the Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts to produce a high quality and safe Festival for 2021.
“The Festival worked with the Government to ensure it adhered to all protocols in presenting a reimagined format of the Festival in a manner that would be a safe, attractive, and fun experience for audiences.
“However, uncertainty about what restrictions on large group gatherings and travellers [artists] coming into Bermuda will be in place at the time of the show mean that it is impossible for the Festival to go ahead as planned this year. The Festival, unlike sporting events, is dependent upon having a live audience.
“The reality is that we are in an ever-changing environment where future conditions and restrictions are impossible to predict with any degree of confidence. Unfortunately, due to the uncertainty, the Board has determined that the risk is too high to continue to produce live shows for 2021.
“As an alternative to live events, the Festival is working to offer a series of exciting virtual events which will feature Bermudian, and a few overseas, artists throughout 2021. More details will be made available as plans develop. Thanks to the generosity of its donors, the Festival is able to sustain a scaled down operation and produce this virtual series until it can move back to live performances. These virtual events will be provided free to the public.”
“Whilst being saddened at the inability to present live events in 2021, the Festival Team remains committed to its mission to Entertain, Educate, and Inspire,” Cindy Campbell, Executive Director of the Festival said.
“We have to move forward the best way possible under the circumstances and will announce the line-up for our virtual series in the near future. Because we believe that engagement with the arts is critical for the mental health of all during these challenging times, The Festival team is once again reimagining 2021.
“Our free virtual events, which will primarily feature professional Bermudian artists here and around the world, can deliver much needed respite to our Island and simultaneously provide some support to Bermudian performing artists who are suffering from a lack of performance opportunities.”
“The Festival also remains committed to our student Outreach programmes, which aim to make the performing arts accessible to all young Bermudians and inspire creativity in our future generations,” Ms. Campbell notes, “We are fortunate that all of the performers that were scheduled to perform in 2021 have agreed to provide virtual Outreach programmes this coming fall.”
“The Bermuda Festival is happy to answer any questions. Please reach out to them by phone at 295-1291.”
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