Restarting Events

Restart, revive and rave

What does it take to bring music (and any type of performing arts) back together? Many people are waiting for vaccines, for government grants, for health passports and and and. But different constituencies have different goals, whereas the entertainment industry has a very clear goal. Let’s get back in front of the fans.

So what does it take? Cross-industry consortiums. In Europe, you can see the momentum building as the event organizers, performers and medical researchers come together in efforts to test different programs. Programs are well underway in Spain, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK, to name a few examples.

Some highlights of these programs include:

Leipzig, Germany: Results of a study conducted in Germany were released in December with the findings that proper ventilation seems to be the key to reduced virus spread. A 10-hour event was designed to study three different scenarios: a pre-pandemic concert with no safety measures, an event with some social distancing and a hygiene regimen, and a reduced crowd with concertgoers positioned about six feet apart. The experiment included various entrance and exit scenarios, bathroom breaks and simulated food and drink purchasing. Attendees were required to have a negative COVID-19 test within 48 hours of the event, temperatures checks, N95 face masks and tracking devices to measure their social distancing. Fluorescent disinfectants were applied to their hands so that the team could study which surfaces concertgoers touched the most.

Barcelona, Spain: Launched the Primacov experiment in order to test the concept of events within the constraints of COVID-19. After some initial tests proving positive outcomes with 500 attendees not having transmission events, there will be a first live, non-socially distanced event taking place at the end of March. The concept is as follows: 17,000 person capacity arena, 5,000 tickets sold. Arena will be divided into zones of no more than 1,800 people. Attendees must be between 18–65 years old, have a temperature check upon entry and be monitored by their smart phones during and after the event for contact tracing efforts. The consortium responsible for this program is made up of industry players Primavera Sound, Sónar, Cruïlla, Canet Rock, Vida Festival and Festival de Jazz de Barcelona.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Has hosted a trial dance event for 1,300 participants at the beginning of March. Also in a stadium with capacity for 17,000 attendees. Individuals needed a negative COVID-19 test in advance of the event and were required to get another test five days after the event. The fans were split into groups of 250 people with different rules to follow. Some wore masks, others did not. All wore tracking bracelets to monitor their contact with others during the event and try to determine if rules were followed. These tests were more about the movement of people within the venue and defining possibilities to reduce close contact during each event. Fieldlab, an initiative set up by the Dutch government and entertainment industry, was responsible for this initiative. This is part of a series of live events planned that include a business conference, cabaret style performing arts and football matches.

And now Greece enters the game with MAZI. A new initiative announced in early March brings together performers (Above the Hood), an event organizer (Detox Events) and a provider of Covid-19 passports and ticketing (ComeTogether). The live events industry in Greece alone is responsible for €300 million annual turnover and the employment of 150,000–200,000 individuals across the country.

MAZI.live will be bringing other industry players and government organizations into the consortium. The group plans to develop a blueprint to safely restart live events including a health passport app, personalized tracking capability to ensure social distancing and a set of guidelines for safe management of live events. The use of blockchain ensures that all data privacy is strictly maintained to protect sensitive information and guard against forgery. If your organization is interested in participating, you can learn more at https://mazi.live.

As you can see, there is no one single organization that is going to get us back together. It takes cross industry collaboration to move things ahead.