UK trials dance parties without Covid restrictions
Issued on:
30/04/2021 - 13:13 British DJ Fatboy Slim will perform at the event in Liverpool JOSEP LAGO AFP/File 3 min
London (AFP)
The English city of Liverpool will hold Britain s first dance event in over a year without coronavirus restrictions on Friday and Saturday, as part of a mass gatherings trial.
Nightlife promoter Circus will host 6,000 individuals 3,000 each day over the two-day mini festival in the first UK event of its kind for 14 months due to the pandemic.
The sold-out pilot, which will include performances by English DJ and producer Fatboy Slim, are part of the British government s Events Research Programme as the country looks to ease remaining Covid-19 rules.
BBC News
By Lauren Hirst
image captionLiverpool hosted the UK s first mass-testing programme in November 2020
Events are taking place in Liverpool to test crowd safety and check what impact easing Covid-19 rules will have ahead of a full lifting of restrictions later in the year. But why is the city at the forefront of these trials and how do people feel about the city being used as a test site?
The events form part of the government s Events Research Programme (ERP), which will explore the risk of transmission and the effectiveness of measures such as ventilation and testing.
Liverpool s involvement is not the first time the city has been used to help shape national policy during the pandemic, as in November it was also selected for the mass testing trial where residents were offered regular coronavirus tests.
.
Thousands of people descended on Liverpool for the first club event in more than a year last night.
Bramley-Moore Dock in Liverpool saw around 3,000 clubbers return to the dancefloor in an event which has been hailed as a glimpse of what the future might hold.
play-icon
Matt Ashton, Liverpool s Director of Public Health.
Matt Ashton said it was wonderful to see the looks on people s faces at The First Dance, hosted by club night Circus, in the city on Friday.
Revellers, who all had to produce negative coronavirus tests, did not have to wear face coverings or social distance for the first time since before lockdown began.
SHARE
Britain is hosting its first carefree dance party in more than a year on Friday as Liverpool welcomes 3,000 revellers for a trial event with no coronavirus restrictions.
Another 3,000 will come on the second day of the mini-festival on Saturday, as part of a sold-out pilot event featuring performances by English DJ Fatboy Slim.
Guests will need to have taken a rapid test 24 hours earlier, but masks and social distancing will not be required inside the Bramley Moore Dock Warehouse in the north-west English city.
Read More
The latest step towards normality comes as new figures showed infections in England falling to their lowest levels since the end of last summer.
Thousands of revellers are returning to the dancefloor at the UK s first post-lockdown nightclub rave today
But there will be tent of scientists outside the venue monitoring their behaviour at the two-day mini festival
Ravers had to take a lateral flow test 24 hours before the event and show negative result to release e-tickets
The trial events are designed to advance the reopening roadmap s plan to scrap social distancing on June 21