The producers of the CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival announced Friday that the festival won't be held in 2020.
In a news release, producers Marc Iacona and John Nugent said because of the coronavirus pandemic, the nine-day festival "will be postponed to June 18-26, 2021."
The event originally was to be held last month and had been rescheduled to October. On Friday, though, Iacona and Nugent said they "do not foresee being able to present the CGI Rochester International Jazz Festival in October in a completely safe, enjoyable, or practical way where tens of thousands of people can safely gather."
In the release, the producers said, “This is the decision we didn’t want to make. We held out hope for as long as possible even as most major festivals and concert events around the world were postponing. But as we have now arrived at a critical junction, needing to finalize artists and logistic arrangements, reality has prevailed."
Iacona and Nugent said the "health and safety of patrons, artists, and our team including hundreds of volunteers must come first."
They also cited travel restrictions, capacity limitations and sanitation issues as additional factors in the decision.
They said they would try to reschedule as many, if not all, of the artists that were to perform this year.
Two headliner shows originally scheduled for this year -- Puss N Boots and Spyro Gyra – are already rescheduled for 2021. Puss N Boots will perform on June 18, and Spyro Gyra will play June 22. Tickets that have already been purchased and selected seats are saved and are automatically valid for these rescheduled shows, festival organizers said.
Club Passes may be redeemed in 2021, 2022 or 2023, organizers said.