Austria’s Electric Love curtailed due to weather

Austrian festival Electric Love was forced to shut down for half a day due to the threat of severe weather.

The 70,000-capacity event in Salzburg was scheduled for 4–6 July but its final day was hampered due to forecasted strong winds, heavy rain, and lightning.

Organisers announced at 10:30 on Saturday (6 July) that the festival grounds were expected to open at 20:00, which meant the day’s programming was slashed in half.

Camping guests were advised to “secure their tents” by 16:00 and “seek shelter in a vehicle” while others were asked to refrain from heading towards the venue until clearance was given.

At 20:00, organisers put out a statement saying: “The predicted storm front barely touched the area, but strong winds were still measured in the infield. Therefore, a structural inspection must be conducted before opening.”

“The predicted storm front barely touched the area”

The festival site reopened at 20:45 with a revised programme that ran until the early hours of the morning and included Mau P, Meduza, ELF24 Relive, John Newman, DJ Snake and Toby Romeo.

At the time of writing, Electric Love, which is owned by CTS Eventim-backed Barracuda Music, has not offered refunds to customers.

Electric Love joins a long list of events that have either been cut short or cancelled due to severe weather.

Gazebo Festival, Sueños Music Festival, Lovers & Friends, Slam Dunk Festival and Sol Blume are among the victims, with the US market being hit the worst.

In the US, adverse weather coverage has “increased significantly” in the last five years, according to Jeff Torda from Higginbotham. Backing this point, a recent Billboard article claimed premiums in North America had tripled in recent years.

The latest edition of ILMC also saw industry leaders discussing ways to cope with the impact of weather on festivals and open-air live music events.

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