Moscow’s Outline Festival, which was due to begin on Saturday night (July 2), was shut down by police just hours before it had been due to begin.
The festival promised refunds to those who had purchased tickets with police having moved into the festival’s site at the disused MoZAL plant and other sites around Moscow in order to stop organisers from putting the event on. Acts including Byetone, Puce Mary, Veronica Vasicka, JD Twitch and Ricardo Villalobos had been due to play the festival with organisers having expected between 15,000 and 20,000 people to attend.
“This afternoon government officials entered the Outline grounds unannounced and prevented the organizers and workers from setting up the festival’s stages, installations and infrastructure—despite the fact that Outline applied for and received all permits and licenses necessary to throw the event in a legally appropriate amount of time," said a statement made by the organisers.
"Due to these unfortunate circumstances beyond our control, the festival was forced to close and was prohibited from moving to other venues in the city. Outline is deeply saddened by the authorities’ decision to shut down the event, and we sincerely regret the inconvenience to all of our guests in Moscow, throughout Russia and around the world. We would like to thank all of the artists, crew and volunteers who put so much love and time into building out all of the installations and stages on site.
"Despite the devastating turn of events Outline will stand strong against the powers that be and continue to create spaces where we are free to do what we love.”
