Travis Scott’s pyramids concert in Egypt has been canceled, according to reports — despite Live Nation’s posts to the contrary.
Travis Scott’s Utopia album event in Egypt, scheduled to take place at the Pyramids of Giza, has been canceled by Egyptian authorities, the Egyptian Independent confirmed Tuesday. Travis Scott’s team is now reportedly working quickly to find another venue for the launch event, as the album drops Friday via Cactus Jack/Epic.
Earlier, Digital Music News reported that the Egyptian Musicians Syndicate had canceled the event, citing “strange rituals” that they called inconsistent with Egyptian values — but Live Nation insisted the event was still taking place.
Ticketsmarche, the company authorized to organize the concert, says the initial losses for canceling the show amount to around 300 million Egyptian Pounds ($9.7 million), according to the Egyptian Independent report. Approximately 4,000 tickets have been booked by overseas fans, each of whom would stay in Egypt for about a week, leading to 28,000 nights in Egyptian hotels. That would amount to significant profits for the Egyptian tourism sector were the show to take place.
The company’s managing director and CEO, Mohamed Serag, added that even if the event were permitted to take place, there wouldn’t be enough time to prepare as scheduled — the equipment and the foreign team accompanying Travis Scott (who is already in Egypt) were not allowed to enter the pyramids area. Preparations were expected to begin on July 20, but at the time, Serag notes no one informed him of the cancellation.
Still, Serag added that he remains hopeful that the efforts of the Egyptian Tourism Ministry will prove successful and allow Scott’s team to enter and begin preparations. If the concert were to take place, Serag says it would be broadcast live to approximately 200 million people — an unprecedented promotion for the pyramids area and Egyptian tourism.
Serag notes that his company had agreed on ten similarly-sized concerts for international singers in Egypt following Scott’s event. However, these are unlikely to take place if Scott’s event is canceled, which may lead to the cancellation of many other events due to the popularity of Travis Scott and the size of his audience.
