Northern Ireland’s first ever socially distanced music festival could be happening this August. The organisers of the Stendhal Festival have created Unlocked. It will be a series of weekends and will showcase artists from the island of Ireland, while adhering to the social distancing guidelines.
The announcement, on Stendhal Festival’s Instagram says; “Expect special performances from some of the very best talent the island of Ireland has to offer, beer gardens, delicious food and perhaps best of all, over 20 acres of outdoor scenic countryside to enjoy.”
The event will take place in Ballymully Cottage Farm in Limavady. The two confirmed weekends so far will be August 21st-22nd and August 28th-29th. The organisers hope that the festival could be spanned over five weekends in August and September, but for now only these weekends are confirmed. The event will hold between five hundred and a thousand people per day.
Festival director Ross Parkhill has said in a statement: “We are confident that we have come up with an event plan that will make going to outdoor music events safer than going to the supermarket. We will be liaising with the local council, the police, fire service and ambulance service to ensure that we have covered every possible eventuality and how it could relate to social distancing and health and safety.”
The organisers have stressed how important is to make sure everyone follows the social distancing rules along with the other measures they have put in place, in order for the event to run smoothly. The rules are as follows:
1. Camp plots will be 8m x 8m in size and only two people can stay in each tent.
2. Festival goers will have to maintain a 2m distance, unless the government shorten it to 1m.
3. There will also be a daily limit on the amount of alcohol consumed. Drinks will be purchased using drink tokens and people will be limited to between six and eight drinks a day, as social distancing will be harder to maintain if people are drunk.
4. Toilets will be cleaned after every use.
5. There will be temperature checking stations at every entry point to the event.
6. There will also be a medical isolation tent in case someone develops symptoms while at the event.
The event is subject to chance, depending on the government guidelines. No acts have been confirmed just yet, but are expected over the next few days. Tickets to the first two confirmed weekends will go on sale this Saturday 4th of July.
For more information see: www.stendhalfestival.com/unlocked/
