The Inclusion Festival has announced that due to COVID-19, its 2020 edition will take place entirely online. It will stream live on the festival’s website from Aug. 21 through Aug. 23.

The festival “began as the nation’s first and only sensory-friendly music and wellness festival, designed to accommodate and include people of all abilities.” (Quote via press release.) The release continued: “Believing the concepts of inclusion are fundamental to all experiences and communities, the festival has grown to spread inclusion as a state of mind through year-round events, experiences, consultation and training, as well as an online magazine.”

According to the press release, “the event will feature people of all abilities in addition to world renowned musicians in the jam scene.” Performances will include Everyone Orchestra, conducted by Matt Butler and featuring Al Schnier, Aron Magner, James Casey, Jennifer Hartswick, Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, Bridget Law, Kai Eckhardt and Weedie Braimah. In addition, the festival will see a performance by Greensky Bluegrass’ Paul Hoffman with help from Holly Bowling, Lindsay Lou, and Jay Cobb Anderson. Finally, the virtual festival will air new sets from Hayley Jane, Zach Gill, TIKYRA (Southern Avenue), Peck and Penn, Karina Rykman, Tash Neal and more.

According to a press release, “this three-day event will showcase best practices in online accessibility including continuous closed captioning, American Sign Language Interpretation, and accessibility tools embedded on the streaming site. Inclusion Festival ONLINE will also offer a wide variety of workshops, diverse conversations including an interview with award-winning author and autism advocate Dr. Temple Grandin, and live nightly dance parties. Viewers can log into Zoom rooms to participate and connect from home. The event will also be streaming on CashOrTrade Streams. All donations received from the livestream event will directly benefit the non-profit organization Accessible Festivals, dedicated to ensuring that music and recreation are accessible to all people, in addition to supporting the participating musicians and presenters.”

For more information and to tune in, head to inclusionfestival.com.