Victorious will be ‘one of the safest places in the city’
Organisers insist on proof of Covid vaccination or negative test to gain entry
ORGANISERS of Victorious Festival said the event will be ‘one of the safest places in the city’ with ‘every precaution taken’ amid requirements for revellers to prove their Covid status.
Stringent Covid checks will include proof of vaccinations, natural immunity, or negative test results on the day of admission to gain entry to the showpiece event.
Vaccination status and lateral flow results can be displayed on the NHS app, or a printed copy can be shown on entry.
Natural immunity can be proven with a positive PCR test within 180 days of the festival, including 10 days’ self-isolation following the result.
The Southsea Common festival – which has seen more than 60,000 people attend in previous years – will be going ahead across the final weekend of August, starting with acts on Friday, August 27.
Organisers are still ‘formalising plans’ with other authorities including Portsmouth City Council and
Public Health England but say they are ‘confident’ of ensuring the public’s health.
James Ralls, co-organiser, said: ‘We have to obey the law and want to keep everyone safe. The festival will be one of the safest places to be in the city. We have been working closely with authorities and hope the event will be beneficial to people’s health.
‘There will be a whole team of doctors, nurses and paramedics. It will be set up with multiple procedures with various things going on – and we are not indoors.
‘We are confident it will be a safe event. We have taken every precaution. When everything is all formalised we will share it with the public.’
James said the Victorious team had attended test events to see what worked – with them taking on board ‘learning’ on how best to deliver a safe event.
‘We’ve always been confident to get it on, assuming the government keep their word. It’s obviously a changing situation,’ James said.
‘There were some events in July that were cancelled but because we were a bit later in the year we were always confident.’
He added: ‘It will be nice to be back out there again after a year out. We can’t wait.’
The festival will also have additional security and facilities across the site to ensure a safe event for festival-goers and the local community.
If the event does have to be cancelled, tickets will automatically roll over to 2022 or people will have the option to receive a refund.
The announcement follows the government mandating all nightclubs and venues with large crowds to require vaccine passports showing attendees have been double jabbed from the end of September.