Festival Republic is one of the leading promoting agencies and co-producers of the main festivals in the UK, such as Reading, Leeds and Latitude, to name a few. The boss of the company, Melvin Benn, has revealed the intentions to host a 10,000 capacity festival-style event, to further test the ground in order to have a safe summer of live music. This event follows the successful shows that recently took place in Liverpool. Benn spoke to IQ in regards to the organisation of the event, touching upon how to deal with a possible COVID outbreak during a festival.
‘While the club shows and the Sefton Park pilot were effectively events that were designed to ensure the enablement of reopening on June 21, the camping event, because it’s three or four days, will actually be about testing the protocol of how to deal with anyone that might have Covid at the event. It’s about testing the protocols around using Covid certification on the NHS app, and it’s also around testing the protocols of what the SAGE [Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies] scientists here in the UK want, which is at-home testing for all attendees that don’t have the vaccination and that are not immune.’ The organiser explains.
The area that could cause potential trouble is not the venue itself, because the organisers will know how to look after the crowd while respecting the guidelines, but public transports: ‘It’s large amounts of people squashed, with no circulation, on buses coming into Glasgow city centre, or coming on tubes into Wembley Stadium,’ he stated. ‘I believe that’s the area they are more concerned about, compared to the actual venues themselves – particularly outdoor venues.’
Benn hopes that the event could potentially take place in mid-June. While being aware that politicians are ‘are a little more reticent’ about this proposal, he is sure that ‘the scientists will persuade them, because [home testing] is the only practical way forward’ he stated, admitting that enough of the UK population is vaccinated. ‘Remarkably, the UK Government appears to have a coherent plan, and it seems like we’re going in a good direction.’
