SLANDER Pull the Plug on Inaugural Starbase Music Festival Due to COVID-19 Surge

by Donald Dominic · September 13, 2021

The outer space-themed Starbase music festival has officially crashed to Earth.

Starbase's proprietors—electronic duo SLANDER—had revealed the Charleston festival back in June before unveiling a stellar lineup a month later featuring Alison Wonderland, NGHTMRE, and San Holo, among other dance music superstars. Now, Derek Andersen and Scott Land of SLANDER have taken to social media to share a statement announcing the cancellation of this year's inaugural Starbase due to the impact of COVID-19.

"Due to COVID-19 currently reaching peak levels in South Carolina, with new cases and hospitalizations at the highest level ever recorded, we have decided that now is not the time to have a music festival in the area," the statement reads. "We have made this decision because your safety, and the safety of our staff, artists, and the Charleston community is our #1 priority. Right now hospitals in South Carolina are rejecting elective surgery in order to have enough room for the massive surge of COVID patients, and there is no clear end in sight to this current wave."

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More coronavirus patients are currently hospitalized in South Carolina than at any point since the onset of the pandemic back in March 2020, according to local paper The State, who sourced data from the Department of Health and Environmental Control. From September 4th to 10th, the department reported 30,757 new cases of the virus, or a daily average of 4,394. Just over 49% of the state's eligible residents are vaccinated, according to the DHEC.

SLANDER's statement goes on to reveal that they have decided to postpone the event indefinitely, opting not to establish new dates "in order to be fluid with the current COVID-19 situation" in South Carolina. All tickets will be refunded.

You can read SLANDER's full statement below.