How we’re going to run Wild
THE LOCATION for an upcoming festival in Sligo provided the first practical demonstration of how such events can be run safely this year.
On Friday morning last, the organisers of Wild Roots – a music, performing arts and adventure festival – offered the first look at their new site on the shores of Lough Gill.
During a site visit, live bands played on the festival’s ‘Wild West Stage’ and industry experts gave a demonstration of the world’s first AI-powered rapid antigen technology for live events – the first time it has been used in Ireland.
Speaking at the event, Niall O’Dowd from InnovateOut, the festival’s testing partner, outlined the process for how festival patrons would be tested prior to entry: “The system that we are using is the world’s first AI-Powered Covid-19 antigen test. It scans for the virus using a simple nasal swab and gives us back results within about five minutes and with around 97% accuracy.”
“Festival patrons download an app and a QR code day pass is issued to their phone to gain access to the festival site. Although there is privacy built-in for the user the app is designed to plug straight into the HSE’s reporting system. What we are looking at here is the future of live events in the era of Covid-19. This is the first time this technology has been demonstrated in Ireland.” The festival’s wild west village, a large scale immersive art installation of a Western-style town is currently under construction and during the site tour, a number of bands played on the festival’s “Wild Roots Stage” including Soda Blonde, JyellowL and ROE. Speaking at the event, one of the festival’s directors, Neil O’Connell, said: “The event has given us a unique insight into how live outdoor events can be run in the era of Covid.
“To see bands on stage even without an audience is a very special moment for everyone present. We’re a smaller festival with a limited capacity so we have been able to design the event with Covid-19 in mind. This represents an important milestone in the reopening of the live events industry in Ireland, in that we have demonstrated how festivals can operate safely. If rapid antigen testing is employed properly, events like ours will even help to identify cases in the community.”
The Wild Roots festival will feature a range of musical acts incuding Kaiser Chiefs, Damien Dempsey, James Morrison, Jenny Greene, Aslan and Paddy Casey. Local acts such as Brídín and Dean Gurrie will also perform.
Festival patrons will also be able to sample a range of outdoor activities including boat rides, kayaking, rock climbing and aerial yoga.
Orla Buckley, another director of the festival, explained the procedures involved and hosting their festival until later this year is an advantage.
“Everyone will need to be tested on site. You can see it in the UK already with pilot events where everyone is tested.
“We test the crew, the artists, everyone coming into the site will be tested and that is how we can ensure it is a Covid-free environment. We know that this works, we know it is safe.”
“We are ready, our safety procedures are in place and we are ready to go. It is an advantage that we haven’t had our festival yet because we can design our site around Covid to filter people in to reduce qeueing.” She added that the site’s capacity when the festival was originally announced was 55,000 but it is expected that they will be able to safely accommodate a crowd of 8,000.
(By Alan Finn)