Festival pilot programme live g ck
Alive gig without masks or social distancing is to be trialled as part of a scientific experiment to bring back fans to events.
The pilot scheme will be staged under a big top in Sefton Park on Sunday May 2 and is included in the national Events Research Programme.
The ERP will be used to provide key scientific data into how events for a range of audiences could be permitted to safely reopen as part of the roadmap out of lockdown, commencing no earlier than June 21.
The Liverpool pilot will take over a small area of the Grade 1 listed historic park. On the line-up are charttopping band Blossoms, BBC 6 Music-championed The Lathums and Liverpool singer-songwriter Zuzu.
Once through the gates at 4.30pm, gig-goers will not have to wear face coverings or maintain social distancing as this forms part of the research on the transmission of COVID-19 in an outdoor music festival setting.
But there are a raft of preconditions. You must be over 18, live in the Liverpool City Region and be registered to a local GP. You must also be healthy and showing no sign of COVID-19 symptoms. Ticket-holders will have to take a Lateral Flow Test at a community testing site 24 hours before the event and will have to produce a negative result to gain entry.
As part of the research element of the programme, those attending will be urged to take an at-home PCR test on the day of the event and five days afterwards to ensure any transmission of the virus is properly monitored. This is non-mandatory but is an important part of the event research data requested by the scientists. But vaccine passports are not part of Liverpool’s pilot events programme.
However, pregnant women and the clinically vulnerable can’t attend. Those who are shielding or living with someone who is shielding can’t go either.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden hopes it won’t be
too much longer until gigs are back for good. “We’re one step closer to a summer of live events now our science-led programme is underway. Testing different settings and looking at different mitigations is key to getting crowds back safely and the Sefton Park pilot is an important addition to the programme.
The festival is being produced by Festival Republic, whose Managing Director Melvin Benn said: “Live music is a must have in my life, and a year without it is a year too long.
“The Sefton Park Pilot is the most important event in the Event Research Programme for getting festivals back this year and I’m delighted to play my part.
“It’s not about vaccines, it’s not about passports, it’s not about limiting it to a section of society only: it’s about a universal approach to our
love of live music for all and demonstrating we can do it safely.”
Liverpool’s Director of Public Health Matt Ashton said: “The evidence we will gather from this one-off event, alongside the rest of the Events Research Programme, will enable us to better understand whether and how the COVID-19 virus spreads when we’re mixing in a busy, outdoor setting, with some control measures in place.
“This data can then be used to help shape how the entire events sector can safely reopen, both locally and nationally. Yet again, Liverpool is leading the way in bringing about change which will genuinely make a difference to people’s lives and livelihoods.”
Tickets cost £29.50 from www.ticketquarter.co.uk but they are limited to one per person.