​ION Festival 2024 faced with stage closures due to “illness and extreme weather”

Albania’s ION Festival has issued a statement after it faced stage closures and problems "out of its control" at its 2024 edition.

The festival, which goes ahead annually in southern Albania through the first week of September, has cited “illness, line-up changes, and extreme weather” for issues at this year’s event.

Artists billed to play at ION Festival 2024 included the likes of Helena Hauff, HAAi, KETTAMA, Batu, Chaos In The CBD, SHERELLE, Zenker Brothers, and more.

In the days following this year's event, attendees commented on issues at the festival on social media, with some claiming to have caught a viral stomach bug thought to be norovirus in the comment section of ION's Instagram posts.

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."

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“As the dust settles on this year’s edition of ION, we thank everyone for your patience whilst we dealt with several challenges,” they explained on Instagram over the weekend. “We wanted to take the opportunity to address this in more detail.”

ION noted that “a virus circulating in the area” affected attendees, artists, and staff, and meant that those on the team had to “work long hours to cover sick colleagues and ensure the show continued to run”.

“This was a very unpleasant stomach bug which also impacted our team,” they explained. “Whilst we took several measures to reduce the spread, this was an unfortunate virus and we are truly devastated that this may have impacted the experience for many of you.”

The festival also acknowledged “unavoidable” stage time changes over Friday and Saturday, noting that several artists cancelled for “personal reasons”. ION said that affected sets were moved to Sunday, and opening hours were extended.

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ION also cited “electrical storms and unusually high tide” on Monday for additional stage closures, with some stages paused and ultimately “closed earlier than planned”.

“As festival organisers, the very last thing we want is to stop the party and cancel artists,” they wrote. “However, your safety is the highest priority and due to the nearby electrical storm we had no choice but to pause the show.”

The festival thanked those who “danced in the rain, sent messages of support, looked out for each other and brought unmatched energy to the many special moments we shared across the week”, adding that “luck hasn’t been on our side this year, but we have risen to the challenge every step of the way.”

Read the full statement from ION below.

Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Assistant Editor, follow her on Twitter