How Will Burning Man and Coachella Make Their Post-Pandemic Comebacks?

Posted on June 29, 2021 By admin

The Reinvention of the Event Space

Many people look forward to the summer months for experiences. Whether its lounging by the pool, going to the beach or attending festivals, summer provides millions of activities and events. Festivals really started becoming popular amongst millennials with the likes of Burning Man and Coachella making headlines. As a current company in the event space, at UBMe we prioritize connectivity and community engagement. Festivals are the very definition of this. We cannot wait for people to utilize our technology again to meet and engage with others at the same event again! With that being said, the opportunities to reinvent the event space are huge, and we have big things coming soon!

Burning Man and Coachella revitalized the travel and music industry within the last few years and created an experience that people did not want to miss out on. They were at the top when the pandemic hit, and now everyone is wondering, how will they make their post-pandemic comebacks to society?

What is the Future of Festivals?

Seeing the decline in COVID-19 cases as a result of the vaccine release has provided a tremendous amount of optimism. Musicians are rescheduling their tours, venues are opening and people have reasons to be EXCITED again! Will festivals spark the same level of excitement? A lot of really hard decisions have been made within recent months regarding headliner festivals such as Burning Man, Firefly, Coachella and many others. Choosing whether or not to hold these festivals either later than intended or cancelling them altogether have been major conversations, and now there are answers.

Burning Man’s 2021 Decision

It was announced that the desert festival would not be making its return until 2022 in Black Rock City. While this decision was disappointing to many festival-goers, fans are being promised that 2022 is the ‘New North Star.’ Missing two years worth of Burn Weeks means there is a tremendous amount of excitement for what 2022 will bring in Black Rock City. Fans are encouraged to make safe, impromptu trips from now until next summer to see the spirit and the buzz alive.

While the hype is being created and promoted, one has to wonder whether or not the appeal will remain come next summer. Festivals were at their peak prior to COVID-19, and now humanity has had to go two seasons without them. Burning Man, like all festivals, will need to redefine their space. Not only will they need to redefine the appeal of Burn Week, but bring a new level of enticement as well. The ‘new normal’ we have been left with post-pandemic is full of exciting opportunities to reimagine what existed prior to COVID-19. I am sure that Burning Man will spend the next year of preparation creating a Burn Week experience like never before.

Coachella’s 2022 Return

Coachella was also supposed to return in April of 2021 but was postponed until next year. Come April 15-17 and 22-24, fans will have the opportunity to return to the desert. Coachella appears less ominous than Burning Man, as they have all of their resort and ticket packages ready for purchase. The 2022 return will mark the 20th year of Coachella and the anticipation will surely be worth the 2 year wait. A big debate is whether or not Coachella will host the same lineup that was intended for 2020. Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, Calvin Harris, Meg Thee Stallion and Lana Del Rey were a few of the big names, and people are wondering if they will be performing next year.

An Ecosystem of Industry Involvement

When you think of festivals, music and the artists performing is probably what first comes to mind. In addition to the performers, there are so many other industries involved in making a festival come to life. Location is huge, and when there’s a festival in town, the hotel and restaurant industries boom. When people aren’t on the festival grounds, they’re either sleeping or eating. Unless you live in the area, you need to get a hotel and even if you are in the area, you need food! Hotels and restaurants thrive and rely on these events.

With seeing a second season of festivals being cancelled, there is a lot of fear still for local businesses. It is important that as businesses continue to reopen, we continue to support them. The end-goal in sight is to have a post-pandemic world that is more enjoyable and entertaining than the world we lived in before. Music should sound better, food should taste better and life should be experienced better. At UBMe we want to take part in reinventing the event space. We want to help shape the new experience of attending festivals like Burning Man and Coachella.

The pandemic taught everyone the importance of connecting with one another. We have been revisiting our existing event platform and transitioning it for when all events can resume at full capacity. We are revitalizing our technology to give more connectivity than ever before. The future is bright, and we are looking to make it brighter with UBMe!