New Yorkers and most of the Northeast are facing some seriously orange skies today as smoke from some Canadian fires filters down the coast. While most have been encouraged to stay inside and the city’s mayor calling it a “very unhealthy” air quality, it seems one NYC music festival is still hoping to run as scheduled this weekend.
The annual Governors Ball Music Festival is currently set for June 9 to 11 and have confirmed that they’re still hoping to welcome a bunch of fans to the festival grounds to see their favorite artists.
“We’re closely monitoring the air quality with weather experts and are in close contact with city officials,” a Governors Ball representative told Pitchfork in a statement the festival later shared on social media. “As always, the health and safety of New Yorkers is our top priority. At this time, the festival is continuing as planned. We are hopeful that conditions will improve in the coming days and are looking forward to a great weekend!”
— Gov Ball (@GovBallNYC) June 7, 2023
For reference, here’s a video taken in NYC today (June 7):
#BREAKING: New footage from the George Washington Bridge (connecting New Jersey and New York City) of the toxic smoke now enveloping the northeast, as dozens of wildfires burn uncontrolled across Canada. #BreakingNews pic.twitter.com/7HjdJwMaEG
— Breaking 4 News (@Breaking_4_News) June 7, 2023
This is part of the festival’s pretty rough track record with battling the city’s weather throughout the years. In 2019, the festival had to be evacuated on the final day due to flooding from a storm. Three years prior in 2016, the fest’s Sunday run was outright canceled for a similar storm issue.
While they haven’t encountered poor weather in a few years, here’s hoping the smoke can clear up by then.
