Bassnectar cancels Deja Voom in midst of global COVID-19 pandemic

Seemingly overnight, the coronavirus pandemic has gone from bad to worse. With the toll count of cancelled festivals climbing hourly, most large-scale events and attractions are calling it quits. From the NBA and NHL cancelling their seasons, to Disneyland shutting its doors, to Live Nation halting all domestic and international tours, the virus is beginning to halt the economy.

All of this came not even 24 hours after Donald Trump gave a presidential address halting all travel between Europe and the US. During that live broadcast, Bassnectar (real name Lorin Ashton) began firing off on Twitter with a lot more Trump criticism than usual—even for him.

Donald Trump has always been a fraud, a failure, and a cheat. Now we are all watching, aghast, as this pathetically insecure man-child straight up flails. We need strong leadership. Instead we have this fool lying, trying to avoid blame & spin his fake news 'hoax' BS – shameful!

— Bassnectar (@bassnectar) March 11, 2020

That’s when it started to sink in for bass heads everywhere… Deja Voom was most likely on the chopping block for 2020. It seemed Ashton’s frustration was not just stemming from Trump’s failed handling of the outbreak, but from the fact that he had to make the tough decision to call off his second annual destination festival in Mexico.

trump caused dejavoom to cancel 🙁

— Bassnectar (@bassnectar) March 13, 2020

Now Bassnectar fans have had their biggest disappointments realized: Deja Voom has cancelled their 2020 event in Cancún, Mexico, which was originally set to take place next weekend, March 25-28. Just minutes ago, the Bassnectar team issued brief statements over social media and took time to email would-be attendees a more heavy-hearted message concerning the tough call.

“Unfortunately, we have reached a tipping point, and are forced to cancel Deja Voom 2020,” reads the e-mail to Deja attendees. “This decision was made with all of you at the center of our thoughts and we completely understand your potential frustration… However, we are in the midst of an unprecedented moment andyour health and safety are of paramount importance.”

Thankfully, the email was not bogged down with vague wording and fine print lingo, like so many of the statements coming from festival organizers at this time. Bassnectar made sure to be clear that his team, in cooperation with CID Presents, will be delivering full refunds to each ticket-buyer. “This was very difficult to pull off, but [we] know that this is the right thing to do for our fans,” they conclude.

Just like that, Deja Voom is the 13th festival to be cancelled during the month of March. Deja Voom’s 2020 line-up was set to have GRiZ, Caspa, Claude VonStroke, and over 50 more artists perform.