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The festival went ahead despite the impact of Typhoon Jongdari, a prolonged tropical cyclone that caused winds of up to 110mph
By Molly Long on 06 Aug 2018
The 22nd Fuji Rock Festival closed last week, having welcomed some 125,000 festivalgoers to the Yabusa Ski Resort in Yuzawa Town, Niigata Prefecture over the course of the four day event.
In a statement on the Fuji Rock website, organisers thanked fans and staff and invited them again to next year’s festival, saying 2018’s event had been “successfully completed with great cooperation of everyone.”
This success was in spite of the adverse weather, brought on by Typhoon Jongdari, Japan’s 12th named storm of the year. Further on, the statement adds: “I would like to thank the customers who visited us during the bad weather due to the influence of typhoon 12 (Jongdari).”
The event had been “successfully completed with great cooperation of everyone”
In late July, the storm formed in the ocean south-east of Guam. For nearly two weeks, it battered much of southern Japan and eastern China, including the festival site of Fuji Rock. On Twitter there were reports of disruption caused by the adverse weather. One tweet spoke of tents collapsing in the high winds, while the festival warned guests some events were being postponed.
Fortunately for fans and organisers, the effects of the storm were not constant, providing some instances of relief throughout the weekend. The line-up featured a mix of old and new musical talent; Kendrick Lamar, Years & Years and Post Malone shared the stage over the weekend with the likes of Bob Dylan and Johnny Marr.
Dylan began his performance in a well-timed lapse in the bad weather. Reporting on the performance of Dylan and his band, Rolling Stone Japan labelled the headline set a “luxurious moment” and an “exquisite performance.”
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