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Ticket-holders had to provide a negative COVID test to gain entry
Lauren Heath-Jones | Planet Attractions | 10 May 2021
Stockport-based band Blossoms headlined the gig Credit: PA
The UK’s first ‘near normal’ pilot gig took place at Sefton Park in Liverpool, England, earlier this month.
The gig, dubbed the Sefton Park Pilot, formed part of the UK government’s Event Research Programme, which studies the safety of mass gatherings in the hopes that festivals and other live events will be able to go ahead this summer as lockdown restrictions ease.
Held at Liverpool’s Sefton Park in early May, the event was attended by 5,000 locals who agreed to be guinea pigs for the programme. As such, they didn’t have to wear face masks or social distance.
Ticket-holders had to be over 18, registered with a Liverpool-based GP and had to produce a negative COVID test to gain entry. Concert-goers were also asked to take a further PCR test after the gig so scientists could track the spread of COVID from the gig.
Scientists also studied other factors, such as audience interaction and movement, gig duration, ventilation, catering and alcohol consumption, in an attempt to create an environment where a 2021 festival season could feasibly happen.
Mini festival
Organised by Festival Republic, the gig, described as a ‘mini-festival’, featured a bar and food stalls, with suppliers having to take live COVID tests over Zoom before the event to gain accreditation
The gig was headlined by Stockport-based band Blossoms, with acts such as The Lathums and Zuzu supporting.
“It has been a devastating year but this has been a colossal ray of sunshine,” said Blossoms’ frontman Tom Ogden
Melvin Benn, MD of Festival Republic, described the gig as “historic” and advised that attendees would be able to “behave as if the pandemic never happened.”
“This is the first gig in the Northern hemisphere where it’s a proper show, with 5,000 people not socially distanced, not having to wear masks, with bars and food stalls in the arena, and it will feel like a mini-version of a festival,” Benn told NME.
“The punters will be able to behave as though COVID never happened. The whole world will be looking at it. You know how many gigs I’ve been involved in, but this is the most historic. I’m just so excited by it.”
Grassroots venues
While pilot events currently exist for larger entertainment venues, grassroots music and culture venues are noticeably missing from the government’s re-opening plans as lockdown relaxes in the UK.
The Music Venue Trust (MVT) has called for the government to put a similar scheme in place for grassroots venues.
“It’s good news that we’ve got these pilots, but we have been writing to the government for weeks now to point out that the specifics of what we do at grassroots music venues are not actually being tested,” said MVT CEO Mark Davyd.
“It isn’t at all clear how anything learned from these events will directly help us to open any of the 950 grassroots music venues across the country that want to revive live music and get audiences back in front of musicians in our communities.”
The 5,000-strong audience didn’t have to practice social distancing or wear face masks CREDIT: PA
Liverpudlian singer-songwriter Zuzu performed at the gig CREDIT: PA
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