Savannah Stopover Music Festival 2021 plans on hold

The much beloved annual music festival is in a holding pattern as the world continues dealing with the COVID 19 pandemic.

Here's what was posted on the official Savannah Stopover website and social media: Savannah Stopover Music Festival recently announced that plans for the 2021 festival are in a holding pattern, but relayed that the festival will not take place in March when typically held. The music industry continues to grapple with uncertainty around scheduling large scale events, particularly for the first half of 2021.

Savannah Stopover has primarily been an indoor, intimate, venue-based festival, taking place across 10-12 locations throughout Savannah’s Historic District and hosting 70-100 bands over a three day period.

“The COVID 19 crisis has hit small venues and venue-based music festivals the hardest. Our focus on these small to mid-size venues that attendees can move between easily is what makes Stopover so unique—it’s in our DNA—but it makes social distancing harder and current COVID restrictions would greatly limit attendance. We want to wait until we can all gather together and hold a festival that is safe for bands, fans, volunteers and staff,” said Kayne Lanahan, the festival’s founder.

The festival is exploring alternate timelines as well as the possibility of other live music events later in the year. Lanahan added, “We’ve been looking at a myriad of scenarios and trying to stay nimble without incurring sunk costs. If opportunities arise that can work safely, and we can move quickly, we will. Like so many others, we are trying to look at this difficult period as an opportunity to take a step back, get creative and rethink how we plan and hold live music events in Savannah.”

Additional updates will be posted on the festival’s website and social media platforms.