In what was set to be its final run, Camp Euforia, one of Iowa’s longest running independent music festivals will postpone the final year of the festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers announced the cancellation of the 2020 festival with a request for fans to help raise funds for artists impacted by the pandemic.
“Over the last 17 years, we’ve been fortunate to be able to build this incredible community of artists and music lovers,” says Eric Quiner. “While we are disappointed that we cannot hold the final festival this summer as planned, we are hopeful that we can still be a platform to raise funds for artists who have been profoundly impacted by the pandemic. We are looking forward to gathering with our Camp Euforia family in 2021 to give the festival the proper sendoff it deserves.”
Through a video and a letter to fans, the following announcement was shared on Friday:
Dear Euforians:
Along with the rest of the world and entire music industry, we’ve been monitoring the current health crisis closely over the last few months, holding out hope that we’d be able to celebrate our final year of Camp Euforia with you all on Jerry’s Farm in July 2020. However, after careful consideration and weighing out all of the options, we can’t in good conscience put our fans, staff, artists, vendors, volunteers and families at risk, as your health and safety is our number one priority.
With that said, it is with heavy hearts to announce that the 17th annual Camp Euforia, scheduled for July 16-18, 2020, has been cancelled.
We realize this announcement comes with much sadness and many questions, as we had previously announced that 2020 would be the final year of Camp Euforia before closing the curtain on Iowa’s longest running independent music festival. We had also promised you a line-up full of many of our long-standing Camp Euforia fam-bands, who have supported and been a part of this festival over the years, but we never got a chance to announce this year’s line-up due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We decided that there is no way we are going to let Camp Euforia close out due to a pandemic, so we want to promise you one thing: We will be back! We can’t imagine Camp Euforia ending without a proper send-off and celebration, so stay tuned for dates and plans for the final year of Camp Euforia to be held in 2021 with the best damn line-up of Iowa-based and Camp-fam-bands for our final year.
What’s next?
As many of you know, the arts and live music industry has been profoundly impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Which is why we’d like to ask those who are financially able to make a donation to the festival. With your donation, we will pay the artists scheduled for the 2020 festival and hope to be able to cover some non-refundable costs associated with putting on an event of this size.
This pandemic has left all musicians without their primary income, unable to tour and play in front of large crowds for the foreseeable future. And while we never released the line-up officially, the large majority of the bands confirmed for this year’s festival are based right here in Iowa, and they need our help. So with that, we’d like to try and fulfill some - if not all - of their contracted rates, so that they can help put food on their tables and be in a position to come back and play for us still in 2021.
Of course we realize that not all of you will be able to afford such a donation, as many of us are struggling just the same with loss of jobs and income ourselves. We will fulfill any refund requests desired.
2020 Camp Euforia Ticket holders will be emailed the following options:
Donate Your Ticket: Let Camp Euforia keep your ticket money so that we can turn around and help Iowa-based artists and other Euforia fam-bands so that we can continue to support them in these trying times. If this is your desire to let us keep your ticket fees in full, no further action is needed on your end, and we greatly appreciate your support! Note: If you haven’t purchased your ticket to Camp Euforia yet for this year and would still like to make a donation to the cause, please visit the Camp Euforia 2020 Event Page on Eventbrite to select the “Donation” Ticket Option on the Tickets Page.
Request a Refund: You may request a refund for your Camp Euforia 2020 ticket(s) before June 30, 2020. Details on how to request a refund will be emailed to all current ticket holders, as well as posted on www.campeuforia.com. Ticket holders will have the option to refund their tickets in full, or can choose to make a partial donation + partial refund to help fund festival expenses and payments for CE 2020 artists.
We too are saddened that this is the outcome for this year, but we are in this together. Let us use this time to reflect on what’s important in our lives, do our part in keeping each other safe, and let our shared love for community and music be the inspiration that guides us through this tough time.
Be safe and well, and we look forward to reuniting with you all for one last hurrah on Jerry’s Farm next year!
Eric Quiner, Festival Director
Euforquestra
& Camp Euforia Staff
