The Verbier Festival has today announced the unfortunate cancellation of the 2020 Verbier Festival this coming summer.
The Festival was due to take place from 17 July – 2 August, with the likes of Alexandre Kantorow, András Schiff, Sergei Babayan, Yuja Wang, Lucas Debargue and so many others all set to make appearances. However, all events have now been cancelled.
The festival’s Founder & Director, Martin T:son Engstroem, comments, “The Verbier Festival has created a truly global inter-generational gathering place in Verbier for 26 years. Artists, students and music-lovers from all over the world make the trip to be with us each summer which puts us in a precarious position under present circumstances.”
“We have always been proud to call our community of artists, students, festival-goers, Friends of the Festival and community partners our ‘family’,” he continued. “This is a time to protect this family; its health and well-being are our primary concern. This cancellation will inevitably have financial implications on artists who will be without work this summer, businesses in Verbier and the region, and the temporary staff who join us each summer; we feel deeply for them all.”
The Commune de Bagnes has been involved in every step of this difficult decision. “Everyone knows how important this summer event is for our resort,” added Eloi Rossier, President of the commune.
"Our priority is the health of our residents and visitors as well as the sustainability of this festival that is so important to us. Once this health crisis is behind us, we will continue to work closely with the Verbier Festival so that music resounds in our valley once again.”
Ticket sales cover about a third of the overall cost of the Festival and Academy and while all ticket purchases will be eligible for full refund, or credit for next year’s Festival, the Festival has asked all ticket holders to consider converting all or part of what they have paid into a donation to help the organisation honour its commitments and ongoing operations through this difficult time. Everyone associated with the Festival would be enormously grateful for this support.
Information about refunds and donations is available at verbierfestival.com.