We think it will be possible to hold festivals in 2021. However, we don't think it will be possible for them to resemble the festivals held in 2019, with huge ticket counters and free performances where people can move around without a wristband, for example.
For 2021 to happen, we need the government to sit down very soon with key event industry stakeholders to prepare guidelines that will help us in the summer of 2021. It is still possible to save the 2021 summer season, but we need clear guidelines from the government to know what the probability of allowing gatherings of 250 people with two-metre distancing is, for example. We are a creative industry and, with guidelines in place, we could work with those guidelines to be able to host festivals.
I agree with you. Losing a year of festivals is extremely difficult; losing two years will be even more difficult. We risk losing certain resources with a corporate event memory. For example, if a sponsorship professional who is working for a festival decides to leave because they no longer have a job, that festival just lost an important funding resource. Everything could ramp up quickly.
I said this quickly in my remarks, and I think that my event industry colleagues will agree. We will quickly need government guidelines. Normally, at this time of the year, I already have 70% of my programming confirmed. My partners are already confirmed, as well as the Hydro-Québec stage. I currently have none of that. I have only one confirmed artist. We will need government assistance. We must find ways to ensure that something will happen in 2021.