With the chaos of a pandemic, live music has seen an indefinite standstill, yet even with the several concert and festival cancellations there has been a surge in innovation and hope to keep the scene alive. While several bands have gone the route of live streams, there was no close replacement for the festival experience. How could one recreate the adrenaline rush a person has when being forced to run from stage to stage, the anxiety of being forced to choose between your favorite bands playing at the same time, and playing games at several tents for nonprofit organizations?

Courier Club found a way to mimic the above experiences, while adhering to proper social distancing. On April 2nd, 2020 a new music festival including over 20 notorious acts was announced, taking place inside Minecraft. That’s right, Minecraft as in the game. Festival goers can attend Block By Blockwest on April 25th, 2020 using Minecraft Java Edition and the IP address: fest.blockbyblockwest.com. The best part of this online festival is the fact it costs the same as your average concert ticket, with all funds going to the coronavirus relief campaign run by the CDC Foundation. 

The server is set up with two stages, so the festival goer can choose between which of their favorite artists they will watch perform. Custom skins and backgrounds give the impression of watching your favorite band perform on stage from in the pit, meaning one can actually open up a pit while lying on their couch. Sound can be streamed via YouTube, Twitch, or the festival discord; although the BXBW Discord is recommended to connect with not only the bands, but other festival goers as well.

Mini games mimicking festival midway games will also be set up on the festival grounds, so you can play your heart out while discovering new bands on the lineup, just like a festival should be experienced. Want a way to directly support the artists? Buy merch! It’s as easy as going to the merch table for your band of choice. The merch table on the server will bring you to a link for their online merch store, making it so you actually receive what you want.

While this is something fairly new to the scene, it is not the first time a festival has been mocked on Minecraft. In 2018, Coalchilla had its run, yet Block By Block West is the first festival that donates to charity and fulfills all those festival necessities. A video explaining how BXBW will work can be found here. Who are you excited to see?