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Festivals of a smaller scale could take place safely this summer with proper coronavirus measure in place, UK MPs have been told.
Speaking to the House of Commons Culture Select Committee, Rowan Cannon of festival organisers Wild Rumpus said that, with social-distancing and appropriate safety measures, small festivals should be “as safe as Sainsbury’s”.
“The idea that the festivals can’t go ahead and be socially-distanced is inaccurate,” she continued. “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.”
Cannon’s comments come as concerns mount in the UK that festival season may be cancelled for a second year in a row due to coronavirus. In January, Glastonbury’s organisers announced that the festival would not be taking place this year, and many fear that its cancellation is just the tip of the iceberg of mass postponements expected for the
BBC News
By Mark Savage
image captionFestival organisers have been calling on the government to set up an insurance scheme
Festivals have the potential to be as safe as Sainsbury s , despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, MPs have been told.
Rowan Cannon, director of festival organisers Wild Rumpus, said that while large events like Glastonbury have been cancelled, smaller-scale shows could go ahead with the right measures in place. The idea that the festivals can t go ahead and be socially-distanced is inaccurate, she told the House of Commons Culture Select Committee, which is examining the live music sector.
Cannon urged MPs to consider the diversity of the UK s festival scene, which includes everything from boutique, location-specific events to 80,000 20-year-olds in a field .
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“The idea that the festivals can’t go ahead and be socially-distanced is inaccurate,” she told the committee.
“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,” she added, highlighting the Just So festival in Cheshire and South Derbyshire’s Timber event as examples of events that could go ahead.
Glastonbury Festival in 2019 (Picture: Getty)
Despite this positivity, Notting Hill Carnival organiser Matthew Phillip said the event could only return once no social distancing was possible.
“It would be very difficult to hold Carnival in its traditional format on the streets with social distancing in place,” he said, adding that cancelling the 2021 event would “be devastating for a second year in a row”. The 2020 carnival was the first time the event didn’t take place in over 50 years.