Lately, you haven’t been getting much information from us regarding this year’s edition of the Audioriver festival. As you can probably guess, this is due to the still unclear situation regarding festivals this year, many unknowns, and issues beyond our control that we have to deal with.

However, we want to reassure you that we assume that the festival will take place. Its form will be adjusted to the current conditions, we are preparing for different scenarios. At this point, however, it is too early to give you more details.

We have decided to answer and summarize the issues that are most frequently mentioned in the questions we receive from you.

Canceling/postponing/changing the festival form – As you know, last year we informed you about our decisions on an ongoing basis. We announced the postponement of the 15th edition of Audioriver in April, which was 3 months before the planned date of the event in 2020. At that time, we were 100% sure that the festival would not take place and you found out about it immediately. You can be sure that we will inform you about any changes concerning this year as soon as possible.

The festival program – so far we have only announced 8 artists of over a hundred, but we have confirmed almost all the artists that are planned to perform at the next edition of Audioriver. Due to the unclear situation regarding festivals, clubs, and other events not only in Poland but in many countries, we are withholding further announcements. We are still in constant contact with the artists’ agents and managers, but whether they will come to Plock depends on many factors. Some of the performers are canceling their tours, the regulations of crossing national borders are still changing, and the form of the festival will have to be adjusted to the current regulations of mass events.

Audioriver organization plan – based on your suggestions, we have been preparing further plans, more entrance gates, and ideas for facilities in the festival area. Since the end of 2019, we have been working on designs for stages, multimedia, and decorations. We don’t know yet how the regulations for mass events will look like for the coming summer, but we are prepared to organize the festival in the best possible conditions, regardless of its form.

Tickets – many of you have left your tickets for the postponed 15th edition of Audioriver, for which we are very grateful. In case of any changes this year, together with ebilet.pl we will keep you informed about possible solutions, including the possibility to exchange or return tickets.

Epidemiological conditions – we have been receiving a lot of questions about whether only vaccinated people or those who provide proof of a current negative COVID-19 test will be allowed to enter the festival area. At the moment, we do not have any clear information about such regulations from the Polish government, the introduction of these solutions at the festival will depend on the current regulations for mass events.

If you have more questions, feel free to contact us at: hello@audioriver.pl.

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Festival partners: Miasto Płock, POKiS

Festival sponsors: Lech, GLO

We are launching an educational campaign dedicated to people with disabilities. Culture Without Barriers Foundation is a partner of the project.

Audioriver takes up the issue of accessibility of music festivals for people with disabilities. In cooperation with the Culture Without Barriers Foundation, we have conducted interviews so that we all – the organizers and participants – can better understand the needs of people with hearing, vision, or physical impairment. The action is held as part of the Audiohome project.

People with disabilities are often excluded from festival life. This is caused mostly by architectural conditions, such as difficulty to move on the ground or lack of ramps, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. Other times it is the crowd, the uncertainty that arises when one finds oneself in a large gathering of people. It could also be that the barrier is the careless reactions of some festival attendees.

The comfort of experiencing music

Our guests point out that sometimes seemingly small things can increase their comfort of experiencing music. One example is the use of an induction loop, a tool that improves the quality of the received sound. A person with a hearing aid equipped with a loop receiver hears clear sound directly from the speakers. This is ideal for hearing-impaired people who can’t fully enjoy the music at concerts.

“At first, I was afraid to go to Audioriver at all because after all there is a beach, sand, how would I handle it? It was my friends who talked me into it, and it turned out that I was able to do it (…) In my opinion, if something isn’t right, you have to show it to the organizer, because they are usually unaware of it. This was the case with Audioriver and the lack of sidewalks at the beginning, which would have allowed me to use a wheelchair to get to the stage. I was able to get closer to the music and closer to the people. It was something awesome” – Mariusz Korzeniecki, Audioriver participant.

Culture for everyone

The Culture Without Barriers Foundation was initiated as a platform for the inclusion of people with disabilities in cultural and social life. The basic assumption is that everyone – regardless of disability, material, or family situation – has the opportunity to systematically and independently participate in culture. As part of its activities, the Foundation conducts training on accessibility and organizes events on its own. It develops audio descriptions and subtitles for the deaf, provides induction loop and sign language interpreting.

Feel like home

Audiohome is a project in which we would like to pay attention to issues of security, tolerance, human rights, exclusions, or the social role of festivals. Starting in December 2020, Audioriver’s social media will include educational videos and interviews. The project involves artists and festival representatives, but also NGOs and experts. Such artists as Novika, Kamp!, AGIM, Aksamit, and Avtomat have spoken out on the topic of safety. Partners of the action include After Party, Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Poland, and Culture Without Barriers Foundation.

Dear Audioriver Family,

We are sorry to inform you that despite many months of preparations and waiting for the final decisions of the Government, we have to move the date of the festival. Once again, we would like to ask for your patience to wait another year to celebrate Audioriver’s 15th birthday. The date of next year’s festival is July 29-31, 2022.

Organizing an event on such a large scale is not possible at the moment – you can read more about that below – but we can’t imagine another weekend filled with emptiness on the festival date without seeing smiling faces and dancing people in Plock. We are trying to organize a smaller event for you, but still keeping the unique Audioriver atmosphere. We will probably confirm this within a week and let you know all the details 🙂 At the end of June / beginning of July, we’ll reveal the first artists who will perform for you at Audioriver 2022.

The decision to move the festival date was made for several reasons:

We recently informed you about a few potential scenarios for this year’s festival, but even the minimal format we assumed for Audioriver 2021 is impossible to realize due to the current Government guidelines. The attendance limit of 250 is an impossible condition to meet in our case. In this situation, we would be forced to refuse entry to the festival grounds to people who had previously purchased and kept their Audioriver passes.

We are aware that the limits do not include fully vaccinated participants, but at this point, we are not yet able to estimate the actual number of such people, which makes planning an event on such a large scale significantly more difficult. It would also be problematic and time-consuming – also for you – in this situation to verify personal data and appropriate certificates for such a large audience.

Additionally, we do not imagine that anyone – especially in high temperatures – could feel comfortable during the festival on the beach wearing a mask. During hot weather, this could be not only tiring but also dangerous to your health. Even more so for those who will be dancing at the covered stages, such as Circus, Hybrid, or Kosmos. Our priority is to take care of your comfort and safety.

Another important issue is the logistical problems with booking artists. We receive information that the artists we have invited from the USA have to cancel their arrival and their performances and tours in Europe will be postponed. Artists arriving from closer countries, but outside the Schengen zone, could encounter problems at airports. Of course, we know that if the test is negative after 48 hours, the mandatory quarantine would be canceled. However, you have to be aware that every year – due to busy schedules – most of our artists come to Poland for less than 24 hours. Some don’t even go to the hotels but come directly from the airport to Plock, and after the show, they almost immediately travel again for another performance. 48 hours is too much time of uncertainty concerning their other commitments.

Another key factor in the festival’s cancellation is that there is too little time left for Audioriver to delay any longer. We know that for many of you this is the last moment to plan vacations and holiday time. Under normal circumstances, we would have started building the festival in Plock at the beginning of July. Due to the fact that government regulations are temporary and can change – which creates even more risk – we cannot promise you concrete Audioriver form as there is a possibility that it will have to change at the last minute.

We would like to express our full support for the entire music industry and common demands to reduce restrictions on the area of various types of events, concerts, and mass events. We cannot understand the decision of the government administration, which loosens restrictions in other areas of everyday life, but prevents the functioning of outdoor events and deprives us all the free access to culture. These actions are contrary to those in other European Union countries. However, in our country, there are still strict rules. This situation affects all promoters, artists, managers, technical and production companies, as well as thousands of people working in culture and the organization of events. A significant number of them remain without job opportunities as early as March 2020.

We have to openly admit that this has probably been the hardest time in Audioriver’s history. Even under the worst-case scenarios, we did not expect such a long separation from you – the wonderful community without which this festival would not exist. We are forced to ask for your patience and forbearance, and once again we will be very thankful if you leave your tickets for next year. This will allow us to continue working on the best possible version of the festival, which you absolutely deserve. Keeping your tickets supports not only us but also many of our coworkers who do a lot of work to organize the event. It is thanks to you that our Audioriver has become such a magical event and we will do everything to make the 15th edition a great anniversary. Once again, thank you all for your support. We believe that next year we will not have any more problems and we will make up for such a long time without meeting together at Audioriver.

Everyone who bought festival passes will receive an e-mail with specific instructions from ebilet.pl. If you bought your tickets at a stationary location, please contact the staff at that location or contact ebilet crew. We will be very grateful to you for leaving your tickets for Audioriver 2022, but in case of any other decisions, ebilet.pl support will be at your disposal.

For supporting the festival, especially in such a difficult situation, we would also like to thank our partners: the city of Plock, Plock Art and Culture Center as well as our sponsors: Tak To Robię, GLO, and Lech. Huge thanks also to our media partners: Onet.pl, Noizz, Newonce, TVP Kultura, Co Jest Grane24, Muno.pl, Nasze Miasto, Rytmy.pl and Gazeta Wyborcza.