Rosarito Baja Beach Fest 30,000 fans attend the concert (video)

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The reggaeton and Latin trap music festival, which returns to Rosarito Beach Aug. 13-15 and Aug. 20-22 after a one-year postponement, drew 30,000 fans a day to its 2019 edition

After having to postpone the 2020 Baja Beach Fest for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the producers of the three-year-old reggaeton and Latin trap music festival in Rosarito are taking health protocols very seriously for the delayed 2021 edition.

The open-air festival, which will be held Aug. 13-15 and Aug. 20-22 in the Baja beach town, will require all attendees to mask up and to provide proof of vaccinations or of negative COVID-19 test results conducted within 72 hours of either weekend.

The event’s sold-out 2019 edition drew 30,000 fans a day and a second three-day weekend was added for last year’s edition before its postponement. This year’s Aug. 13-15 opening weekend is sold out, while the festival’s website indicates that 85 percent of the tickets for the second weekend have also been sold.

Production personnel and performers at the 2021 Baja Beach Fest — which this year stars Ozuna, J Balvin, and Karol G — must abide by the same health protocol as guests.

BAJA BEACH FEST 2021 | Front Gate Tickets

To ensure compliance so that attendees can activate their festival wristbands, proof of vaccination has to be uploaded through the festival’s portal. Those taking verified tests must do so through one of 100-plus Covid Clinic sites in the United States, 60 of which are located in California and seven in San Diego County.

“We’ve been working with every state and city department to make sure that Baja Beach Fest is as safe as possible,” said the event’s co-founders, Aaron Ampudia and Chris Den Uijl, in a joint statement.

“We’re excited to show the world that live music can come back in a way people can feel comfortable with. We’re taking these necessary precautions so we can all enjoy live music while keeping the fans, the artists, and the people from Baja safe.”

Ampudia and Den Uijl, who met in Encinitas, staged the first Baja Beach Fest in 2018 in Rosarito. In their joint statement, they indicated that 90 percent of the 2021 ticket-buyers who thus far have registered their wristbands to show their health protocols compliance have been fully vaccinated against the virus.

In addition to the 100-plus U.S. locations, COVID-19 testing centers for Baja Beach Fest will be operating in Rosarito and Tijuana for last-minute tests in the days prior to the start of the festival.

Ticketholders who test positive will not be allowed to attend this year’s edition. However, those providing proof of a positive test can obtain a refund or use their tickets for Baja Beach Fest 2022.

The announcement of Baja Beach Fest’s health protocols comes as the COVID-19 Delta variant is surging across the nation. Its impact has been so pronounced that, on Tuesday, country-music superstar Garth Brooks announced he is contemplating putting his ongoing U.S stadium tour on hold after his next two shows take place.

The 2021 edition of the six-day Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, which draws 125,000 people per day and is the world’s most popular and profitable annual music event, was canceled and later rescheduled until next April. However, last weekend saw the return of two major multiday festivals, Lollapalooza in Chicago (which drew a reported 100,000 fans per day) and Hard Summer in San Bernardino (which drew a reported 80,000 fans per day and included a free on-site COVID-19 vaccine tent).

On Tuesday, Live Nation — the world’s largest concert and live events producers — announced that for the period of April 1 to July 1, 2021, its revenues had jumped by 677.2 percent, a 98.2 percent improvement over its first-quarter earnings this year. The first scheduled concert of the year at the Live Nation-owned North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista is scheduled to take place Aug. 14 with Southern California reggae band Rebelution headlining.

Three-day passes for the Aug. 20-22 Baja Beach Fest weekend range in price from $239 to $449 and are available through the event’s website at bajabeachfest.com.

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Covid, alcohol and more at Baja Beach Fest

Last night Playas de Rosarito is the municipality that will detonate COVID-19 infections in the next 14 days as thousands of attendees enjoy, drink and enjoy the Baja Beach Fest in Rosarito, an event that the Secretary of Health, Alonso Pérez Rico, assured would be safe.

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Source: cadenanoticias.com, zetatijuana.com

Baja California Post