Yes, this is super long, and your attention span is super short, but we really need your help.
WHAT YOU MAY HAVE EXPECTED:
Festival Postponement
With heavy, yet hopeful hearts we are postponing the 23rd annual SoulFest. We were pressing on towards August, but circumstances have unfortunately compounded in such a way, that postponing is the only way to ensure everyone’s safety and SoulFest’s future. Following national, as well as, many of New England’s individual state reopening task-force guidelines, there are simply too many unknown variables that make the risk too great.
Before we get to the how and when of moving forward together, we wish to share another layer of circumstances that have impacted us and threaten the future of SoulFest without your help.
WHAT YOU DIDN’T EXPECT:
Financial Loss prior to COVID-19 and a Stroke creates BIG NEED.
Last summer, SoulFest’s attendance was the lowest it’s been in years and we suffered a big loss. We didn’t push for a major giving campaign to offset the loss, but rather continued with intent to shape the 2020 festival in a way that would grow its future attendance for years to come. It was working, in the sense that ticket sales were up, until COVID-19 hit American soil…
Ticket sales slowed, sponsors and vendors scaled back or have needed to wait for revenue to register. Patterns we’re not experiencing alone.
We closed our office to work remotely according to state mandates and continue waiting for the small business association’s payroll protection loan to come through.
We had to do temporary layoffs, like many of you have experienced.
Dan Russell, greeting our volunteers. Photo: Paul Rogers.
In the midst of all of this, our creative company owner and festival co-founder, Dan Russell, had a stroke and is currently recovering in rehab.
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We’ve taken a couple of hits, but we’re not down for the count!
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
We believe, that together with your help, we can do more than survive this; we can thrive! I can think of several artists that have penned songs along these themes, that have played SoulFest throughout the years. Let this be our anthem!
With your support, we can continue to create, curate and coalesce as Christians that want to shape our culture with the love of Christ. This is what we love to do in service of you, our community, especially here in New England, where opportunities like these are rare. We can’t continue without your support in these difficult times.
Matt Maher performing at SoulFest. Photo: Adam Bridges.
PRAY
Right now, we’re all experiencing these hardships and prayer is the powerful gift we all can give. Please pray for Dan’s recovery, his family, and the festival’s future.
Pray for our extended family of attendees, volunteers, artists, vendors, contractors, ministry partners, our host Gunstock Mountain Resort and our tiny-but-mighty staff.
DONATE
For some, you may have stability or resources during this time that allows for a financial contribution and we ask for your help specifically.
For many, you love this event so much and have been impacted so unforgettably by it, that you want to give, but are more heavily hit by current struggles. Any contribution is appreciated!
Together we will keep the legacy of SoulFest and our community strong.
Donate Your 2020 Tickets: Another way to give, without giving extra money is to donate your 2020 ticket purchase, by not having it roll over to 2021. If that’s your wish, email us by forwarding your email confirmation for your ticket purchase to information@thesoulfest.com with the subject line: DONATE MY 2O2O TICKET.
Donate to New Sound Concerts, the 501c3 behind SoulFest.
Mike Donehey (Tenth Avenue North), Brad Corrigan (Dispatch), and Dan Russell. Photo:
TICKET HOLDERS - WHAT TO EXPECT:
Photo: Glen Silva
2021 Festival: August 5-7, 2021
Tickets & Upgrades: Your 2020 tickets/upgrades will be honored at SoulFest 2021. (If you can’t make it, our policy remains that you are more than welcome to sell them to someone else. Tickets don’t require a new name if you sell them. Upgrades will require you to update the mailing address for us to ship early summer of 2021.)
Onsite Camping: If you have a campsite via Gunstock Mountain Resort, please be patient as they are currently dealing with a small staff and have a plan to reach out to you over the next couple of weeks with options for your campsite.
Lineup: Please be patient as we are working to roll over as many artists as possible from the 2020 lineup to 2021.
Other Options:
Sell tickets to someone else. We can update ticket name and email to new attendee (which isn't necessary for tickets but definitely for upgrades as we ship those out early summer prior to the festival date).
Contact boxoffice@thesoulfest.com to pursue other options (such as refund, partial refund, reserve for 2022, etc) within 2 weeks of date event change (announced 5/5/2020 via general SoulFest email + socials and announced via Eventbrite email 5/27/2020).
If you have any other questions, please have patience with us, but send them to information@thesoulfest.com.
We’re grateful to be part of such an amazing community of creative, loving and innovative people.
We are humbly grateful for your support and look forward to seeing you at concerts under the “new normal” terms this fall until we can meet again on the mountain!
Much love & grace,
Vanessa Ayersman
GM of New Sound Inc | The SoulFest