After over a year of social distancing and limits on gatherings amid Covid-19, the crowded, chaotic atmosphere of a music festival is being met with as much enthusiasm as trepidation. As restrictions ease and the vaccine rollout accelerates in countries across the world, concert and music festival organizers are mapping out their potential post-pandemic future. 

A Year Off Stage

The coronavirus pandemic has halted concerts, festivals and gigs for over a year. It has meant an extremely tough period for the entertainment industries and workers around the world. Staples of the music festival calendar like Coachella in California or Glastonbury in the UK were canceled in 2020. Organizers are trialing various solutions to saving the events this year. A UK survey undertaken in March found concerts were among the events people have missed the most. Just under half of those asked said they would pay extra for a ticket to cover safety measures.

Covid-Tested Concerts

At the beginning of May, the UK trialed its first mask-free, non-socially distanced concert. Sefton Park in Liverpool hosted some 5,000 ecstatic music fans lucky enough to participate in the Covid-tested experiment. To attend the event, festival-goers had to show a negative test result. This meant the event could be “a sweaty, joyous, raucous evening of pressing up against strangers all singing the same tune,” as The Guardian reported. 

The Liverpool concert was one of a series of pilot events that are hoping to find a solution to holding large events in safety this summer. These research gigs, along with football matches and snooker tournaments, are part of the UK government’s Event Research Programme. 

Vaccinated Revellers

Across the pond in America, the four-day Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago will go ahead at the end of July. Attendees will require either proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test for each day of the music festival. 

The option of entry for those inoculated is also part of a wider vaccine campaign in the city. NPR commented, “So that festival takes place in Chicago, and it’s the city that’s actually working on its own form of an app or a database or whatever, you know, to try and prove vaccinations or a negative test.”

It’s possible the festival will also be used to persuade residents to get the jab. “The city’s public health commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady […] teased this week that they might start tying, you know, getting vaccinated with opportunities for Lollapalooza tickets and stuff like that. So this is part of their big vax push,” NPR added. 

Live-Streamed Festivals

Months trapped inside houses have resulted in a normalization of watching events live-streamed. The UK’s legendary mud-filled Glastonbury festival did not go ahead for the second year in a row due to the pandemic. However, organizers replaced it with a live stream of bands who performed at Worthy Farm on May 23. The line-up included Coldplay, Haim and George Ezra. As The Guardian described, “There’s a certain weirdness about the silence between songs – it feels more like eavesdropping on a rehearsal that’s going particularly well than watching a gig – but the sound of the band is fantastic.” 

Organizers planned the theatrical setting and filming carefully. They aimed to bring some of the famed Glastonbury experience into people’s homes. “[…] getting the experience of being at Glastonbury via a camera is impossible, but the stagings somehow succeed in giving you more of a flavour than anything previously attempted, despite the absence of crowds,” the Guardian added. 

Unfortunately, the innovative festival was marred by technical problems with the live stream. But the event at least pointed to another potential solution for the return of music festivals. 

Organization First

In general, careful planning will be key for post-Covid mass events like music festivals. Changes are likely to include timed entries to avoid long queues and contactless tickets. Furthermore, venues will display information about staying safe and preventing transmission. Hand-sanitizing stations will feature heavily and masks may be a requirement.

Additionally, organizers will need extra security and cleaning behind the scenes. The onus is also on event-goers, however, to accept responsibility and be mindful of others. Many festival websites have posted liability clauses. The statements make it clear that ticket-holders assume all risks of contracting Covid-19.