Danny Wimmer Presents, promoters for such major rock and metal festival events as Sonic Temple, Epicenter, Welcome to Rockville, Louder Than Life, Bourbon and Beyond and Aftershock, have offered an update on all of their events in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a posting, they revealed, "We are crushed to say that Epicenter, Welcome to Rockville and Sonic Temple are being canceled due to government restrictions on mass gatherings. We respect these directives and recognize they are in the best interest of the greater good, as well as the health and safety of our fans, musicians, partners and staff."

They reveal in their posting that they attempted to reschedule each of the festivals, but scheduling conflicts and availabilities made it unable to happen. However, the plan is to return each of these festivals in 2021. Full refunds will be made to those who purchased tickets to these three events, as well as options to transfer the money paid to attending the 2021 events or to another DWP festival event. Details will be revealed shortly.

As for the other three festivals that typically take place in the fall, organizers have held off on announcing full lineups debating whether it was the appropriate time with the uncertainty in the world.

They've also listened to fan suggestions, and one key bit of intel has come out of that. Louder Than Life will now have a Thursday date added, with Metallica being able to headline that show. The band had previously pulled out of Louder Than Life due to a scheduling conflict, but are able to make the new date.

"We simply couldn't accept that after all we've gone through together this year that there would be no Metallica performance East of the Mississippi. And Metallica agrees," states DWP.

In addition, all current passholders for the festival will get the extra day for free. Also, many of the acts that were going to play the spring festivals may eventually surface on the fall fests.

"We want to thank you for your continued loyalty and support," reveals the statement. "We are blessed to have such an amazing festival family, and together as a community we will get through this." Read the full statement below.

There are no pre-existing guidelines for what festivals should be doing during this unprecedented time. Like the rest of the music industry, we continue to assess new information and make the best-educated decisions possible. We know you have been anxious for updates from us and we are at a point where we can answer many of your questions about how each of our festivals may be affected by COVID-19.

We are crushed to say that Epicenter, Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple are being canceled due to the governmental restrictions on mass gatherings. We respect these directives and recognize they are in the best interest of the greater good, as well as the health and safety of our fans, musicians, partners, and staff. Before accepting this fate, we worked really hard to try to reschedule the festivals. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts, venue availabilities and a number of other factors out of our control made postponing impossible. Make no mistake, each of these festivals will return in May 2021 bigger and stronger than ever!

Let’s be perfectly clear -- FULL REFUNDS will be available to everyone who has purchased passes to Epicenter, Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple.

In addition to offering refunds, many of you have said that you would prefer to apply your 2020 purchases towards next year or exchange your pass for another one of our 2020 festivals. Based on your feedback, we are offering pass holders three options:

(1) Full refund

(2) Apply your pass to 2021

(3) Exchange your pass for another 2020 DWP festival

Complete details will be emailed out to our pass holders within 72 hours.

We also know that you are anxious to find out who is playing Louder Than Life, Bourbon & Beyond and Aftershock. Please understand that here at DWP, we’ve been debating when it is appropriate to announce our lineups and put passes on sale for our remaining festivals. Our heads say we need to hold off on these announcements until we have more certainty in the world. But our hearts say the world needs positivity and some things to look forward to. We’ve been paying close attention to what you are saying on our social media and two themes consistently emerge. First, you do want something to remind you of the better days ahead. Second, times are financially hard for all of us.

While we want nothing more than to give you the full lineups for Aftershock, Bourbon & Beyond and Louder Than Life, we just don’t feel like it’s the right time. But we did hear you loud and clear that you want some good news. And good news we have. We are adding a Thursday to 2020 Louder Than Life and, are you ready . . . the newly added Thursday will be headlined by none other than Metallica. Yes, Metallica is back! We simply couldn’t accept that after all we’ve gone through together this year that there would be no Metallica performance East of the Mississippi. And Metallica agrees!

To assist you in the current financial climate, all current pass holders for Louder Than Life will be given the 4th day FREE. We are also deferring the next installment payment on the layaway plan for a month. And we will leave open the refund option for Louder Than Life through Friday, March 27 in case you need your money back.

To try to make passes a little more affordable right now, anyone who wants to buy a pass for Louder Than Life can reserve a pass for $1 down per pass, with payments not starting until May 3 and split up evenly in May, June, July and August.

We have also arranged for many of the bands from Sonic, Epicenter and Rockville to play at Louder Than Life and will be announcing that as soon as we feel appropriate. Because we were not able to reschedule the Spring festivals, we want Louder Than Life to be an inclusive celebration of all of those festivals. It’s not a perfect solution, but these are imperfect times. It is our sincere hope that we are all able to heal together with massive celebrations this Fall.

While we don’t know if this pandemic will end in time for Hometown Rising, Louder Than Life, Bourbon & Beyond or Aftershock, rest assured that all passes will be refunded in the unfortunate event that any of these festivals are prevented from happening because of COVID-19.

We want to thank you for your continued loyalty and support. We are blessed to have such an amazing Festival Family, and together, as a community, we will get through this. Please stay safe and look out for each other.

With Love,

Team DWP

Important Information

● Danny Wimmer Presents has announced the cancelation of their Spring 2020 festivals:

Epicenter, May 1-3 in Concord, North Carolina
Welcome To Rockville, May 8-10 in Daytona Beach, Florida
Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival, May 15-17 in Columbus, Ohio

● DWP looks forward to bringing all three festivals back in May 2021, and is focusing on making the upcoming Fall 2020 festival season bigger than originally planned.

● Louder Than Life in Louisville, KY will expand to four days, September 17-20, with Metallica headlining Thursday, September 17. Many of the bands that were scheduled to play the Spring 2020 festivals will also be a part of the massive Louder Than Life lineup, in an effort to bring fans of all the events together and provide an unparalleled experience.

· To assist fans in the current financial climate, all current pass holders for Louder Than Life will be given the 4th day FREE. In addition, upcoming installment payments on layaway plans for all DWP festivals will be deferred for a month.

● To make passes a little more affordable right now, Louder Than Life passes can be reserved for $1 down per pass, with layaway payments not starting until May 3.

● Those who purchased passes for Epicenter, Welcome To Rockville and Sonic Temple will have three options: exchanging passes to attend a Fall 2020 festival, deferring their pass to Spring 2021, or requesting a full refund. Complete details will be emailed to purchasers beginning Thursday, March 26.

● The full DWP fall festival season includes the Louisville Trifesta—Hometown Rising Country Music & Bourbon Festival (September 12-13), Louder Than Life (September 17-20) and Bourbon & Beyond (September 25-27), all held at Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center—as well as Aftershock, October 9-11 at Sacramento’s Discovery Park. The full lineups for Louder Than Life, Bourbon & Beyond and Aftershock will be announced in the coming weeks.

● For more information, visit www.DannyWimmerPresents.com

30 Rock + Metal Films to Binge While Self-Isolating

More From 95 Rock