Glitch Festival, supposed to have taken place between 13th-16th August 2021, has officially announced the event will not be held this year.

The popular house and techno music festival is one of the largest home-grown events. It attracted over 4,000 tourists alone travelling from 60 countries at its 2019 event, according to the co-founders.

With the news that Malta will only be permitted to host seated events over the summer, with limited capacity, the festival has officially announced that this year’s edition will not be going ahead.

“We did everything within our power to find a safe solution to welcome you back at the fortress this summer, but unfortunately there’s no green light from the local authorities.

“Following the Government's latest announcement, only seated events with 200 people will be permitted. At the time of writing, Malta has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. Almost 80 per cent of the adult population has had a first dose and it is estimated that by July every adult will be fully vaccinated.

“Total active cases are down to 51 and the ICU has no Covid patients. All these promising statistics should have led to a safe re-opening. However, the local authorities think otherwise with no logical reasons behind these decisions.”

Turning to the viability of the event after two consecutive cancellations, the organisers appealed with its ticket buyers to hold on to their tickets for the 2022 edition.

“Last year you really did save the festival by holding on to your ticket. Once again we ask for your help. If you can afford it, we encourage you to save your ticket for next year’s edition.

“Your current ticket/s will become automatically valid for 2022. Another round of €10 credit will be allocated as a token of appreciation (even holders from 2020 edition). For those who would still want a refund, further instructions will be provided in the coming days. Please be patient.”

In an emotional message, the organisers went onto say:

“It’s hard to accept that we’re heading into another summer without Glitch Festival. Another summer without the music and people we’ve missed so much. Yet, rest assured we’re coming back stronger than ever for our milestone 5th edition between the 13th - 16th of August 2022.

“The good news is that we’ll be announcing phase 1 of the Glitch Festival 2022 line-up in a few days.”