The annual Playing in the Sand destination event has been cancelled due to rising COVID cases. The event was slated to take place from January 7-10 and 13-16 in Riviera Cancun, featuring headliner and host band Dead & Company. A note from Dead & Company and promoters CID explains:

“With much sadness and after great consideration of every possible scenario, the Playing in the Sand shows in Riviera Cancun on January 7-10 and January 13-16 have now been canceled by CID Presents due to the spiking COVID-19 cases. Dead & Company and CID Presents tried everything possible to bring normalcy and to deliver a great experience and amazing music, but with each day it became increasingly clear that canceling is the correct thing to do for the fans and for our crew. Please refer to the Playing in the Sand email that will be sent shortly with all details about refunds. See you soon, hug your loved ones, stay safe and be kind.”

Last night, Dead & Company guitarist John Mayer announced that he would be unable to perform at the event’s first weekend after contracting COVID, and drummer Bill Kreutzmann had already announced that he would be unable to attend due to a medical issue that is unrelated to COVID. Joe Russo’s Almost Dead guitarist Tom Hamilton, Wolf Bros/RatDog drummer Jay Lane and special guests like Margo Price were slated to perform with the other members of Dead & Company this weekend.