One of the biggest absences from the music fan’s life during covid has been festivals. Live music as a whole has taken a hit, but the specific joy of spending a whole few days surrounded by friends and favourite musicians has been a hard one to let go of. Finally, we’re seeing them make a comeback.

Following the success of the Liverpool Blossoms gig last week after which government data tracking showed no detectable spread of the virus, the next logical step in the return to the live music lifestyle was to run a test festival. 

The first festival back on the scene is Download. Preparing to pilot a diminished crowd festival in June at its usual venue of Donington Park, Download will host 10,000 eager fans to enjoy a 40- strong lineup. For a festival that usually hosts an average crowd of 111,000 people, this is less than 10% of their usual capacity – but it’s enough to successfully test the effect of a weekend-long close-quarters event on the spread of Covid-19.

As for the regulations surrounding the event, similar rules to the Blossoms concert will apply. Every attendee will need to provide proof of a negative lateral flow test on arrival, and will additionally undergo a PCP test both before and after the event takes place in order to track cases and any spreading of the virus. The event will not require any social distancing measures or any masks to be worn – however, it is specified that government regulations regarding masks and distancing must still be adhered to on travelling to and from the festival. Additionally, no day tickets are provided – only full weekend tickets, to avoid cross-contamination or skewed data.

The event will take place from the 4th to the 6th of June 2021, and it’s safe to say we all wait with bated breath for the results when the data is in.