A COVID-19 Safe Music Festival Was Held In Barcelona Without Social Distancing
There is hope for anyone who is longing to attend a live music festival after same-day COVID-19 screening was used at a test event in Barcelona.
One of the major losses during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the closure of any live music events. It was deemed unsafe for hundreds of spectators to gather in one place to enjoy the music. However, Spain’s Primavera Sound recently trialed a successful, COVID-19-safe concert in Barcelona with no social distancing needed.
Music Festival Went Ahead With No Social Distancing
Primavera Sound threw a concert in December 2020, with 463 people in attendance. The music festival was held at the 1608 Sala Apolo venue in Barcelona. Every local DJ and attendee at the concert was required to undergo a COVID-19 test. Results were available within 15 minutes and anyone with a negative result could attend the concert.
The aim of holding one of Europe’s most popular music festivals was to determine if live music events could safely resume. The test was to hold the concert with all the proper precautions in place and without the need for social distancing at the event.
Results Of The Music Festival
The results of the festival were released last week. Among the 496 control group, there were only three infections – these were the people who could not enter the concert. Meanwhile, 463 of the people were permitted to attend the event. All participants were aged between 18 and 59 years and none suffered from any underlying conditions. Also, none of them lived with vulnerable people.
The event was held in a partnership between Primavera Sound, the Fight AIDS and infectious Diseases Foundation and Hospital Germans Trias. The PRIMA-CoV study was run by Doctors Josep Maria Llibre and Boris Revollo. The doctors said antigen tests, FFP2 masks and flow control were used at the event.
Llibre said in a statement, “The study allows us to say that if you do a similar activity it will be safe, but the further you move away from these characteristics, the greater the uncertainty.”
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A Cautiously Optimistic Approach
According to everyone involved, it was a cautiously optimistic approach. However, more evaluations and tests are required before concerts get off the ground this year. Still, they believe this event was a good rehearsal for any future live music events.
The team’s statement read that this was, precisely, the objective of the study. It was aimed at validating these kinds of tests “as an extremely useful tool to be able to carry out any type of event.” It doesn’t necessarily need to be a musical event, but it does give hope for any gathering of people without the need of social distancing.
Speaking of future events, Primavera Sound had to cancel its 2020 run. However, it hopes to return to Barcelona from June 2-6, 2021. They also hope to host a first-time-ever festival in Los Angeles, California, from September 18-19, 2021.
As they say in Spain, “poco a poco” – little by little – it appears to be possible to get back to relatively normal life again.
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