Creators of the Great South Bay Music Festival are already planning for life after COVID, or at the very least, moving forward safely.

The festival was originally planned for July 16-19, 2020 and later pushed to July 15-18, 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions and concerns.

There were talks to hold the festival in September, but no “prudent” way to
put it together.

“I wouldn’t let my kids or grandkids hang at my fest; I am surely not going
to allow others to take the risk,” said Jim Faith, manager of the festival, in a
Facebook post last summer.

Faith continued that the prospects for having the concert later rather than
in September worked better for everyone involved, as crowds and performers
would feel safer, and there would be fewer restrictions.

For those who have already bought tickets, they were transferred to 2021
with a 20 percent voucher for food, beer, merchandise, or additional tickets. Organizers also gave ticketholders the option to donate their ticket to a
health care worker. Refund requests were also accepted.

The original lineup, Faith said, of all artists is still confirmed, including
Jon Bellion, Third Eye Blind, Circa Survive, Rock Reggae, Rebelution, The
Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Badfish, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Moe, Cory Wong,
Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, The Weight Band and Tedeschi Trucks Wheels of
Soul Tour 2021, with St. Paul and the Broken Bones and Gabe Dixon.
“We are a pretty diverse festival, and each of our days are a bit different musically,” he said, referencing the different days of the festival including
four stages with over 65 artists over four days. “Considering the ramping up
of the infections and deaths, all artists were pleased to move to a safer time
period.”

But what about safety?

Faith promises that organizers are carefully considering COVID-19 numbers and if still a concern ahead of the July dates, he said, they will make the decision to move to a September or October festival.

“We are currently watching the numbers, digesting all info regarding
the vaccine, infection and death rate,  guidelines changing, etc.,” he said. “At this point, our whole industry is frozen and we probably won’t know a realistic
or ‘carved in stone’ way forward for another month or two.”

“The festival has been a part of this community for the last 15 years and it is my hope that we will be able to bring it back to what it was and the glory of
what it was, whether it be done in summer or in the fall,” added Patchogue
mayor Paul Pontieri, thrilled to see the festival back up and running.

Should the festival still move forward, there will be many changes made. Individual, unique and distinct changes to all areas of the fest include: staffing, production, setup, HVAC, cleaning, ordering supplies, staff training, ticketing, marketing, load in and hospitality, box office, entrance and exits, health
and safety, food and beverage, merch sales, security, restroom management
and cleaning, staging and performances, and crowd control.

Each one of these, he added, will need to be addressed and coordinated individually, and uniquely. Faith also assumes all festivalgoers will have to wear
masks and testing will be mandatory.

As for the number of tickets sold, their capacity is 7,000 and, ironically, they just opened up new areas to allow for more attendees last year. For now,
Faith said, he hopes they will not have to limit attendees, but it really depends
on guidelines at that time.

“Without seeing the future, I can’t describe what the fest will look like at this point,” he continued. “That said, I can say what is awesome is that the whole
world will finally be able to get out and be with their friends and family at gatherings, large and small. For Long Islanders and beyond, the loving, peaceful, and healing personal contact at the family-themed Great South Bay
Music Festival is exactly what we all need.”

As for the number of tickets sold, their capacity is 7,000 and, ironically, they just opened up new areas to allow for more attendees last year. For now, he said, he hopes they will not have to limit attendees, but it really depends on
guidelines at that time.