An estimate was conducted by the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF)
An estimate conducted by the Association of Independent Festivals revealed that 51% of the UK’s festivals with at least a 50,000 capacity have been canceled, however, most of these festivals have been rescheduled for a later date. A couple of weeks ago, we reported that the UK had decided to enforce restrictions an additional four weeks due to the recently discovered COVID-19 variant (Delta). The UK had initially planned to fully re-open come June 21, however, that date has since been pushed back to July 19, leaving live event companies scrambling to figure out a countless number of logistical issues.
A recent study published by the UK government revealed that out of the nine piloted events (sample size of 58,000), only twenty-eight people contracted COVID-19, however, only 15% of those individuals took a PCR test afterward. Even though the study showed that only a very small percentage contracted the virus, scientists determined that festivals of scale should continue to use “extreme caution.”
For event companies in the UK, figuring out when to reschedule events is going to be a nightmare. According to Mixmag, about £451,000 has been spent so far by festival organizers to plan events in 2021. It will be very interesting to see how this number will be affected going forward, especially with so many festivals already announcing cancellations.
H/T – Mixmag
