UK music festivals could be as “safe as Sainsbury’s” this summer, even with the ongoing implications of the coronavirus, MPs have heard. Rowan Cannon, of festival organisers Wild Rumpus, told the House of Commons Culture Select Committee that with the appropriate measures, smaller UK festivals could be safe to go ahead.
“The idea that the festivals can’t go ahead and be socially-distanced is inaccurate,” Cannon told MPs. Cannon implored the committee to review the restrictions enveloping the live music sector, asking for each festival to be addressed on a case-by-case basis instead of a blanket ban. The hearing takes place following the regrettable decision to cancel the Glastonbury Festival for the second year in a row. Despite this decision, Cannon argued that the two festivals she organises – Just So in Cheshire and Timber in South Derbyshire – could easily and adequately protect their audiences despite the pandemic.
Cannon said: ‘They’re both a capacity of around 5,000. They both have vast sites of about 100 acres.
“We can absolutely adapt our programming, put infrastructure in place, [and] change the way that we do things, to enable something to happen with social distancing in place.”
Our @rowan__cannon called for the Government to recognise diversity in the festivals sectors during her spot on the Department for @CommonsDCMS Select Committee – check it out here: https://t.co/tDlk958DHm
— Wild Rumpus (@_wildrumpus) February 2, 2021
However, the forecasted fate of this year’s Notting Hill Carnival was not so propitious, according to Carnival organiser Matthew Phillip.
“It would be very difficult to hold Carnival in its traditional format on the streets with social distancing in place,” Phillip said. “It would be devastating for a second year in a row.
“Carnival means too much to too many people for us to simply ignore it so we would always try to find a way of celebrating Carnival for its artistry and what it means to the community,” he added. Two million people typically attend the Carnival, so if there are “five or six or 10 premises which have got loud music playing, it could potentially pose some risks” . Phillip expressed his intention to continue Carnival if at a reduced scale, describing the event as “resilient” to such adversities but asked for guidance on how it should proceed.
Despite the encouraging prospect of a vaccine returning life to normal, the fate of the live music sector this year remains highly precarious. MPs on the select committee have penned a letter to the Chancellor – signed by dozens of MPs and industry executives – asking him to initiate a safety package that would compensate live events if they are forced to cancel – similar to a £2.3bn fund recently announced in Germany. No measures have yet been implemented.
