Christian hip-hop festival postponed by pandemic sets new dates at Banc of California Stadium
The God’s House of Hip Hop 20/20 Summer Fest didn’t happen in 2020 because of the coronavirus, but the festival is now on for this fall with the original lineup of more than 70 artists performing at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles.
The Christian hip-hop, Latin Christian hip-hop and gospel hip-hop festival, which was originally set to take place at the stadium in July 2020, will be held on Sept. 17 and 18. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 23.
The headliners for opening day include Alex Zurdo, Derek Minor, Flame, WHATUPRG, and Angie Rose. Day two headliners include Canton Jones, Manny Montes, Bizzle, Dee-1, and Aulsondro “Novelist” Hamilton aka Emcee N.I.C.E., who is one of the organizers of the event.
“This is the ‘Who’s Who’ of Christian hip-hop, Latin and gospel hip-hop,” Hamilton said.
“We retained our original lineup and added two major stars in Christian hip-hop, Bizzle and Wande, who just landed a TV show with Oprah,” he said.
Like all other live events the festival had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But now that restrictions are being eased and state officials have said they plan to lift most coronavirus restrictions on businesses and workplaces on June 15, an increasing number of festivals and concerts are announcing events.
Some of these recently announced events, such as the Los Angeles Azules concerts happening on Sept. 11 in Inglewood and Nov. 24 in Ontario, are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to coronavirus safety protocols. Others, like the Same Same But Different Festival coming to Lake Perris in September, have laid out plans that limit capacity and require vaccination or a negative test.
Sign up for our Festival Pass newsletter. Whether you are a Coachella lifer or prefer to watch from afar, get weekly dispatches during the Southern California music festival season. Subscribe here.
The God’s House of Hip Hop 20/20 Summer Fest will follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state, Los Angeles County and city safety protocols, said Chantal Grayson, co-organizer of the event. Organizers are taking a strict approach for now, and will reassess rules as the concert date approaches if restrictions ease further.
For now, plans call for attendance to be capped at 3,000 people. But if the county eases restrictions and allows bigger crowds, Grayson said they would increase their capacity to a maximum of 7,000 people, although the venue can hold about 22,000.
“We’re going to start off very conservatively at 3,000 people to allow for the social distancing requirements and then as we progress through the summer and we get more information from the Los Angeles Health Department and CDC and the State of California, we have enough flexibility to expand the distancing between people,” Grayson said.
People in line to get in will be spaced six feet apart and there will be a temperature check before entering the facility. And those who are vaccinated will pretty much get the VIP treatment since there will be express entrances if they show their vaccine cards, she said.
Once inside, groups will sit six feet apart and food can be purchased from their seats via a phone or from staff that will take their order. There will be designated food pickup areas so that people don’t line up for concessions.
Related Articles Chain Fest music festival announces new date for Jimmy Eat World and Taking Back Sunday event So Cal Hoedown pushes return to San Pedro to September because of coronavirus Festival Pass: BeachLife sets fall return; Hollywood Bowl to come back this summer BeachLife Festival announces a post-pandemic return to Redondo Beach in September Festival Pass: What California’s COVID-19 rules mean for indoor concerts and large festivals
“You’ll have even more room to get up and dance and shout and do all that good stuff. This is just the new normal, it’s going to be like this for the foreseeable future, I don’t think we’re going to be on top of each other,” Hamilton said.
There will also be several sanitation stations throughout the venue and masks will be required inside unless there’s a new mandate out by September that says masks aren’t required, Hamilton said.
“One of the blessings for us is that the Banc of California Stadium has an open roof, so we have plenty of ventilation,” Grayson said.
Artists will also have to follow rules since their arrival will be timed to their performances so they will not be allowed to hang out backstage with people outside of their groups.
Visit 2020summerfest.com to see the full lineup, tickets and more information.
#Coronavirus #ThingsToDo #TopStoriesPE #TopStoriesWDN #TopStoriesOCR
