Music

Lollapalooza Colombia cancelled due to Zika virus fears

by Jeremy Mersereau

Lollapalooza’s planned incursion into South American markets has hit a major impediment: the inaugural version of the festival due to take place in Bogotá, Colombia has been cancelled.

The first-ever instalment of the fest in South America was due to take place September 17th and 18th, and was set to feature performances from acts like Lana Del Rey, Anderson.Paak, Wiz Khalifa, and Disclosure. Plans were derailed, however, after festival organizers said that the unnamed headliner (listed as ‘???’ on posters and said to be Rihanna, though that’s unconfirmed) pulled out just prior to the full lineup announcement. According to the organizers, their headliner abdicating at the last minute left them with no time to book a replacement, so they opted to cancel the entire festival. Tickets are now being refunded in full.

Chilean newspaper La Tercera reports that the unnamed headliner was Rihanna, who pulled out of her slot due to concerns over the Zika virus, although an unidentified ‘insider’ claims the pop star was never available for the dates in question and is not the cause of the fest’s cancellation.

Whoever was slated to headline (my money’s on Queens of the Stone Age) does have an understandable excuse for cancelling: according to Time, Colombia has the second-highest rate of confirmed, diagnosed cases of Zika.

[h/t NY Daily News]