Virtual Snowbombing 2020 reaches 6.3m people

Planet Snowbombing, a virtual festival taking the place of the cancelled Snowbombing 2020, reached more than 6.3 million people with over 30 live streams, organisers have announced.

The event, which took place from 13 to 18 April 2020, replaced Snowbombing, which was one of the first European festivals to be cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Broadwick Live-promoted Snowbombing – which was to have returned to the Mayrhofen ski resort in the Austrian Alps on the same dates – would have featured headline performances from Liam Gallagher and Chase and Status for its 21st edition, now moved to 2021.

Planet Snowbombing, held in aid of the UK’s National Emergencies Trust, featured DJ sets, live acoustic performances, stand-up comedy, yoga, daily work-outs, quizzes, Q&As, bingo and more, with participating performers including Rudimental, We Are Scientists, the Shapeshifters, Reverend and the Makers, Solardo, the Cuban Brothers and Mr Motivator.

“The virtual festival received over 1.5 million unique views and was a really successful and genuine way of engaging with our audience”

“Given the cancellation of the festival, we felt we should give something back to our disappointed fans, so they could at least experience a bit of the festival from isolation,” says Snowbombing event manager Sam Turvill. “We decided to curate a weeklong programme of content that ran over the actual festival dates, and included the kind of eclectic content that we like to think sets Snowbombing apart – from life drawing with the Cuban Brothers to a bedroom DJ set from Rudimental, a Bongo’s Bingo livestream and mountain-top rave complete with smoke bombs and a stunning sunset backdrop.

“The virtual festival received over 1.5 million unique views and was a really successful and genuine way of engaging with our audience to increase customer loyalty and push the brand forward in an innovative and exciting way. It also provided an opportunity to work with our key partners in a completely new way and build on those relationships. The project provided a really exciting challenge for our team and, while delivered at relatively low cost, the final outcome far exceeded our initial expectations.”

Snowbombing will return from 4 to 10 April 2021. All festivals in Austria are off until at least mid-July, with a further ban on large-scale events likely to be extended beyond the summer.

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