The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest – RMAF for short – has been canceled forever and will never return in its current form. The question, of course, is what other shows will this apply to.
Covid is increasingly taking its toll when it comes to physical events. One time skipping a big show is often a very expensive opportunity for the organization behind it, multiple cancellations in a row is sometimes just too expensive. This is the case with the organization of the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, a leading and large American show where many European manufacturers were also present. The forced cancellation of the RMAF in October this year was the final blow. Until the last moment there was hope for continuation, but an exploding number of infections in the US made this impossible.
Done…
Because the organization also had to cancel many other smaller shows, RMAF became too risky to plan any further. After 12 editions it is definitely over and done with for the event. Eventually the organization wants to organize other events in the future. Nothing is known yet about how and what this will be. Probably it will be more local and smaller scale shows. These can be organized regionally, which makes the organizational and financial risks a lot smaller.
In any case, in 2021 you can ask yourself whether large shows in one specific location still make much sense. They generate a lot of traffic for one day. The news generated at such events is online in real time these days. In the case of AV shows, of course, watching and listening is essential. But doesn’t that actually come across much better at a more intimate and small-scale regional show?
So we wait and see what many other big boys m/f in showland are going to do in the coming years.