Graspop Metal Meeting will not have a 2020 edition, since the Belgian government decided to put a ban on large gatherings until the first of September. The metal festival was planning to celebrate their 25th edition this year with an extra big edition. The organisation was prepared for the new measures and announced directly the dates for the 2021 edition. With the cancellation of the 2020 edition, the 25th edition of Graspop Metal Meeting will take place from 17 to 20 June 2021.
“Each year Graspop Metal Meeting tens of thousands of metalheads flock to Dessel from all over the world for a high mass of heavy music: from heavy metal, black metal and metalcore to hard rock, punk, classic rock and more. A festival with more than 50,000 fans per day would present too much of a risk to society this year. We always put the safety of our visitors, crew and artists first.”
In addition to Graspop, other big Belgian festivals such as Rock Werchter, Tomorrowland, Pukkelpop and more will not have a 2020 edition. The decision to put a longer ban on large gatherings was done due to the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the organisation of Graspop Metal Meeting writes that they will put the effort to include as many of the bands from the line-up that was confirmed for the 2020 edition in the line-up of next year. The full line-up will be announced at a later date. In addition, ticket buyers will be contacted soon and the festival is working hard to come up with a suitable solution for all festival-goers.
Japanese metal bands BABYMETAL and CRYSTAL LAKE were among the line-up for the 2020 edition. Both bands had a European Summer tour planned as well, some of the other performances, such as Hellfest, are cancelled for this year as well. What will happen with the European tours for both bands is unknown. It is expected that they will announce something soon.
All changes of Japan-related events and events where Japanese musicians are planned to perform are compiled in a list that you can find here. This list will be regularly updated.
Source: Graspop Metal Meeting
