Download Festival Australia Is Officially Canned…

The rumours and speculation are true, due to the pandemic announcement of the COVID-19 aka Coronavirus, Download Festival Australia 2020 has officially been canned due to the sheer amount of bands unable to fly to our country to play.

In a statement, festival officials said:

It is with intense disappointment that we announce that My Chemical Romance will not be coming to Australia to play Download.

MCR have released the following statement today:

“To our dearest friends –

It is with heavy hearts that we have decided to postpone our performances in Australia and New Zealand. We felt this was the right decision for our fans, our band, our crew, and our families given the current global situation. We apologize to our fans, but please know that we didn’t come to this decision lightly. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to being with you all again as soon as we can.  In the meantime, please be good to each other.”  My Chemical Romance

Given that this announcement has come barely 7 days prior to Download Australia we will not be able to secure an alternative headliner as there is insufficient time to secure visas and arrange the other relevant logistics that are required prior to the festival.

As we are unable to deliver a complete line-up to meet the standard that Download fans both expect and deserve, we have very reluctantly made the decision to cancel Download Australia 2020.

The Download team has been working around the clock to create an unforgettable experience for heavy music fans and we are devastated not to be able to deliver this show to Australian Downloaders as planned.

We are currently working with both My Chemical Romance and Deftones to schedule separate headline shows in Australia in 2020 and will update you all as soon as we have these.  

We are also working with a number of artists who have official Download side shows scheduled, to add headline shows in Sydney and Melbourne next week, stay tuned for these dates.

All ticket purchasers to the Download Melbourne and Sydney 2020 events will receive a full refund including booking and payment processing fees.

We appreciate that the decision to cancel Download Australia will cause huge disappointment and may create major difficulty for ticket holders, for which we sincerely apologise.

Moshtix will contact account holders on Monday 16th March via email with information regarding the refund process. We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience. For any questions relating to your Download ticket purchase, please contact Moshtix directly https://tixsupport.moshtix.com.au/

This follows the news of Dark Mofo and SXSW also cancelling their 2020 festivities, Coachella postponing until October and rumours say Splendour may see the same fate!

There’s nothing we can do but look out for ourselves and the bands who need our support via merch or any means possible to get through this period.