Rihanna Pulls Out Of Lollapalooza Colombia Over Zika Fears, Cancelling Festival

By Lauren Evans  |  July 3, 2016 | 8:10pm
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Organizers promptly pulled the plug on Lollapalooza Colombia after Rihanna—slated to headline the festival—dipped out due to concern over Zika.

According to La Tercera, the festival was scheduled to take place in Bogotá’s Simon Bolivar Park over the weekend of September 17 and 18. But a statement posted to the event’s website said that the absence of Rihanna unfortunately spelled doom for the whole shebang, since finding a replacement on such short notice would be impossible.

“The organizers wish to express their profound gratitude to all the fans who supported the festival since day one, as well as the sponsors and media partners,” the statement reads in Spanish. “We hope to return in the future to realize this first edition of Lollapalooza in the country.”

Other acts on the bill included Lana Del Rey, Disclosure, Wiz Khalifa, Cage the Elephant, Anderson .Paak, Silversun Pickups, Matt and Kim and The Chainsmokers, none of whom were apparently deemed worthy of taking over as headliners.

The CDC indeed confirms that Zika is present in Colombia at altitudes below 6,500 feet, which is, of course, the bulk of the country. Time reported in April that Colombia has the second highest number of cases in South America after Brazil, with nearly 72,000 infections reported.

(h/t Consequence of Sound/Image via Getty.)

 
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