Juliana Zammit
The week-long ION festival, which takes place annually in Albania, faced multiple problems earlier this month as it prepared for its festival week. This led to the organizers to issue a statement stating stage closures due to problems “out of its control” in this year’s edition.
ION Festival 2024 takes an unfortunate turn
The ION festival 2024, which was supposed to take place between the 4th and 11th September 2024, is a 7-day exploration of cutting-edge dance music of all shapes and sizes. This year, the festival was set to take place in Dhërmi, Albania, had a line-up of artists from a-to-z ready to take to the stages.
Artists that were set to play at ION Festival 2024 included the likes of Helena Hauff, HAAi, KETTAMA, Batu, Chaos In The CBD, SHERELLE, Zenker Brothers, and more.
Causes of the stage closures
Stage closures were initiated when attendees commented on the issues they encountered at the festival in the comment section of ION’s Instagram posts, with some claiming to have caught a viral stomach bug.
Emerald, who was due to perform a set on the main stage but faced “push backs”, said in a post that the festival endured “stage shut downs to monsoon rain showers, savage lightning, rough seas, and to top it all off, a violent stomach virus that took out about 90 percent of people, myself included.”
Statement from ION Festival
Taking to social media, the ION Festival organizers expressed gratitude for attendees’ patience amid several challenges. The Instagram post noted that “a virus circulating in the area” affected attendees, artists, and staff, requiring team members to work long hours to cover for sick colleagues.
The festival acknowledged “unavoidable” stage time changes on Friday and Saturday due to artist cancellations for “personal reasons,” with affected sets moved to Sunday and extended opening hours.
They also cited “electrical storms and unusually high tide” on Monday as reasons for additional stage closures, leading to some stages being paused and closed earlier than planned.
In closing, the festival thanked those who “danced in the rain, sent messages of support, looked out for each other,” and brought energy to the event, stating that while “luck hasn’t been on our side this year,” they rose to meet every challenge.
