Wasteland Weekend
We are all living in strange, unprecedented times. Our world has changed over the last couple of months, and while it is a temporary disruption, it is a significant one.
Adam and I have been in frequent discussions with each other as this global crisis has unfolded. The environment that we are living in has changed significantly, each week, and sometimes on a daily basis. There are many unknowns in relation to the long term arc of the Covid-19 virus. Just a month ago, we would have thought that the prospects of having to delay or cancel Wasteland Weekend 2020 in September were remote. We know more now than we did then. We’ve spent a significant amount of time keeping up with current reports, consulting with experts in epidemiology, medical professionals, and our peers in the live event world, for an informed, responsible way forward.
This has been a difficult decision for us make, but we believe for the safety of our fellow Wastelanders, it is the right one.
Wasteland Weekend for 2020 is cancelled.
We know that this decision will be disappointing, even heartbreaking for many of you. It is for us as well. Wasteland has been a major part of our lives for the past 10 years. The prospect of a year without Wasteland Weekend is hard to get our heads around. The Wasteland experience is part of our lives, and we know it will be difficult for those of you who were really looking forward to a celebration with the Wasteland family.
We have continued to follow the best available guidance from the state of California, as well as agencies such as the CDC. Currently, the state of CA is still under stay at home orders. Those orders may be slowly relaxed over the Summer, but the prospects of a large in-person event such as ours being allowed in September are now looking very low, and the calendar is against us. While we were prepared to hold the event with less prep time than we have had in previous years, there are limits to how close we can cut it, and the time remaining for us to build with our crews, recruit volunteers and performers, handle permits, and do all of the other work needed for our event is quickly running out. We also understand that some of you need to make travel plans well in advance of the event.
Ultimately, we must follow a course of action that is safest for our Wasteland family, and provides certainty that the event will not have to be postponed again at the last minute.
So what happens now?
ALL tickets purchased for Wasteland Weekend 2020 will be fully-refunded. Beginning immediately.
You can check the tickets page on our website for more details on how all of that will work. It may take some days for refunds to show up for you, depending on what payment method you used.
Tickets for the NEXT Wasteland Weekend in September of 2021 will go on sale, in just a few days at www.wastelandweekend.com/tickets
We sincerely hope that you will consider purchasing your ticket for 2021. Having funds to work with now will help us navigate this very difficult time. We have always prioritized putting money back into the event, year after year, so that it could grow and improve into something we could all be proud of.
Not having our event this year represents a huge emotional and financial sacrifice for us personally. We are not asking anyone for donations, but we are hoping that you will choose to buy your ticket for 2021, if you are able, as a vote of confidence in the future of Wasteland. We’re in this for the long haul.
As the months go by we will be exploring ways to keep this community connected online. As stay-at-home restrictions ease, it may be possible for smaller groups of us to get together casually in person. We will certainly be missing seeing all of your faces, even more than we currently do.
Some of you may be wondering about our other event, Neptropolis. We will be making a separate announcement for that event on our Neotropolis social media and the Neotropolis website.
This was definitely not the dystopia that we were all expecting, but hopefully it will be a short one, and we can get back to playing the end of the world that we all know and love.
Jared & Adam
POSTPONEMENT FAQ:
Q: How long will it take to get our refund from Eventbrite for our 2020 WW tickets?
A: It depends on which payment method you use and how long it takes your bank/credit card company to process the refund into your account. In general, you should see it within a few business days. If it takes more than a week, please get in touch with us and we will look into it. Please be aware that the refund will go back to the card you used to make the purchase. So if you have closed, lost, or changed that card since your purchase, please get in touch with your bank about that.
Q: Will 20201 WW tickets be the same price?
A: While we usually have to raise ticket prices a little each year to cover our actual cost increases, we will not be doing that this year. Tickets for WW 2021 will remain at $225.
Q: What if I bought a ticket to Wasteland from someone else, or someone else bought my ticket for me?
A: The refund goes back to the person who purchased the ticket. There is no other way for us to process the refund.
Q: What if I earned a Vanguard patch for being one of the first 300 ticket buyers in 2020?
A: We know many of you are proud of your vanguard patches and we love seeing you represent your support of WW by wearing them. We have discussed the vanguard patch issue for this year and we believe the most fair thing to do is to carry over the current list of vanguard recipients to 2021. Even when the 2020 tickets are refunded. So, if you received an email this year saying you earned a vanguard patch this year, you will be given that patch at WW in 2021 (the crescent rocker underneath will say “2021”). In other words, there will be no new vanguard patches generated for the first 300 ticket buyers for 2021, the current 2020 list will carry over.
Q: What if I have already put in volunteer time in 2020?
A: That time counts toward your 2021 ticket.
Q: What if I was already a confirmed volunteer for 2020?
A: Consider yourself pre-confirmed for 2021, though we may have to go through some confirmations when the time comes next year, just to make sure you are still available and interested, and to make sure the position you applied for still has the same need in terms of volunteer numbers.
