Buku Music + Art Project going virtual for 2021, organizers postpone festival until 2022

December 6, 2020

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Of all the festival organizers in the world, BUKU Music + Art Project is consistently the most earnest and authentic of the bunch. Held annually in New Orleans, Louisiana, the annual urban event brings the best of the bayou to the middle of Mardi Gras World in the city’s scenic, historic downtown epicenter. Like many other live music companies around the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, BUKU organizers struggled last March to decide whether or not their 2020 edition would be safe for attendees and workers. While it’s easier to say that “hindsight is 20/20,” BUKU is now showing foresight for their upcoming 2021 festival.

Recently, the folks behind the springtime festival took to their socials to announce that “March 2021 is out.” BUKU’s announcement went onto explain,

“So here’s the deal… things are too crazy with COVID to continue planning for a March BUKU. Cases are up, restrictions on large gatherings are still tight, and, even though there is promising vaccine news for later 2021, widespread availability by March seems unlikely.”
BUKU Music + Art Project

While the news is heartbreaking for all, attendees can certainly appreciate the spirit of transparency and certainty from the entire BUKU staff. “Our two main priorities – fan safety and fan enjoyment – are guiding us, and we just can’t picture 25k of us partying together safely in March in the free-roaming BUKU atmosphere that y’all love. Ain’t nothing socially distant about BUKU,” organizers continued.

In lieu of BUKU not being able to return for a second year, the promotion company behind the event, Winter Circle Productions, will host BUKU: Planet B, an “immersive, one-time-only, alternative take on BUKU.” The placeholder event will take place October 22-23, 2021. Fans can expect more details about the lineup and schedule later next year. BUKU organizers say the festival will return in March 2022 for the festival’s blow-out tenth-anniversary.

Learn more about BUKU on the festival’s homepage, here.