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Will the 2021 festival go ahead?


JoeyT
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Glastonbury 2021   

434 members have voted

  1. 1. Following the Oxford Vaccine news will it go ahead?

    • Yes - I 100% believe
      43
    • Yes - I think so but not close to 100%. Need to see how the roll out progresses.
      158
    • Maybe - I'm 50/50
      87
    • Unlikely - Even with the latest news I think it's unlikely to take place
      79
    • No - The vaccine news is great but I can't see 200k people being allowed at Worthy Farm in June.
      67


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Just now, efcfanwirral said:

To be fair a minuscule number will be at risk of dying by then so does it matter that much? We're never getting rid of this virus, that's not what this vaccine is supposed to do 

I'm saying that on site PCR testing is 100% impossible for Glastonbury. They'd need to build a mega lab to process the tests and results would take days.

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Glastonbury and other large music festivals could be prevented from going ahead in 2021

Glastonbury and other large music festivals could be prevented from going ahead in 2021 unless their insurance is underwritten due to Covid-19, MPs have warned.

 

Conservative chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Julian Knight said: “The UK is the leader in the world in terms of music and arts festivals. The sector is worth £12 billion and supports many thousands of highly-skilled jobs as well as the financial lifeblood of the nation’s musicians.

 

“However, there will be no festival season next year unless insurance is underwritten in case of Covid disruption.

 

“Will the minister firstly meet with me and MPs from across this House to see how this reinsurance can be put in place, and does the minister recognise, noting her answer to the previous question, that with a minimum lead time of six months, the reinsurance needs to be in place now before the likes of Glastonbury commit?”

 

Culture minister Caroline Dinenage replied:

 

Festivals are such a vibrant and integral part of our creative community and our economy, and I am well aware that many will take decisions very soon about whether they can go ahead next year, so this is a very urgent situation.

 

There is a sub group of my entertainment and events working group looking very specifically about how we can get festivals reopened and in the last few weeks I have met with representatives from festivals in Edinburgh and only yesterday from festivals on the Isle of Wight.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/coronavirus-live-updates-gps-across-19430813.amp?__twitter_impression=true

 

Edited by kabillion
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5 minutes ago, kabillion said:

Glastonbury and other large music festivals could be prevented from going ahead in 2021

Glastonbury and other large music festivals could be prevented from going ahead in 2021 unless their insurance is underwritten due to Covid-19, MPs have warned.

 

Conservative chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Julian Knight said: “The UK is the leader in the world in terms of music and arts festivals. The sector is worth £12 billion and supports many thousands of highly-skilled jobs as well as the financial lifeblood of the nation’s musicians.

 

“However, there will be no festival season next year unless insurance is underwritten in case of Covid disruption.

 

“Will the minister firstly meet with me and MPs from across this House to see how this reinsurance can be put in place, and does the minister recognise, noting her answer to the previous question, that with a minimum lead time of six months, the reinsurance needs to be in place now before the likes of Glastonbury commit?”

 

Culture minister Caroline Dinenage replied:

 

Festivals are such a vibrant and integral part of our creative community and our economy, and I am well aware that many will take decisions very soon about whether they can go ahead next year, so this is a very urgent situation.

 

There is a sub group of my entertainment and events working group looking very specifically about how we can get festivals reopened and in the last few weeks I have met with representatives from festivals in Edinburgh and only yesterday from festivals on the Isle of Wight.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/coronavirus-live-updates-gps-across-19430813.amp?__twitter_impression=true

 

Glad that'll we'll know soon.

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2 hours ago, JoeyT said:

So yesterday I was speaking to one of our suppliers who works at Silver Hayes during the festival and on the day Pfizer released their efficacy results he was speaking to someone who is higher up the chain than him.

Basically he was told that the festival were planning on going ahead using mass PCR 15 minute testing at the gate regardless.

Setup (supposedly) would be you do a test at the the point where your ticket is checked. Tickets will have a QR code on which will be scanned at the same time that you do your test so it then links the test to your ticket.

You would then be held in an area during which time they could carry out the usual bag checks for glass etc. 

After 15 mins or so you then go to wristbanding where they scan your ticket and have access to your test results. 

At this point you either get your wristband or don't...

Before I get piled in to about how the logistics of such an operation could / couldn't work I'm just passing on what I was told!

My personal view is this sounds a bit cut throat, imagine being about 5 metres from getting in to the festival only to be told you've failed your test but who knows! 

I said earlier the unsolved problem of onsite testing is where to put everyone whilst waiting for the test.

This idea seems to resolve that by taking advantage of the queues people are already in to get the time to process it into a result.

I like that idea. Presumably they'd just expand the area between ticket check and wristbanding considerably. 

As for people in the queue you get everyone to wear masks in the queue and it's outdoors so they can say risk is minimal.

 

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35 minutes ago, Chawk said:

There's no such thing as 15 min PCR. I think they mean antigen which only detects people with higher viral load and is less accurate

You can think of it as testing something different. What you really want to know is whether there's a high probability of someone causing an infection, not necessarily whether they have any traces of the virus in their system. On that basis, the antigen tests aren't really "less accurate", they're just testing for something different - which is actually more in line with what you need to know in order to decide whether to let someone into the festival.

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13 minutes ago, kabillion said:

“However, there will be no festival season next year unless insurance is underwritten in case of Covid disruption.

that's simply not true.

It's all about whether someone - not just an insurer - wishes to take on the risk of heavy costs and then a cancelled festival.

I realise that for many festivals that will be a risk too far, but certainly not for all of them.

And as time goes by, that risk is reducing. For the summer the risks are looking to be very low - tho having to comply (or not) with any covid measures is another thing.

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4 minutes ago, eFestivals said:

that's simply not true.

It's all about whether someone - not just an insurer - wishes to take on the risk of heavy costs and then a cancelled festival.

I realise that for many festivals that will be a risk too far, but certainly not for all of them.

And as time goes by, that risk is reducing. For the summer the risks are looking to be very low - tho having to comply (or not) with any covid measures is another thing.

I read that as Knight pushing for the sector with a misrepresentation

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Testing on the gate seems crazy, say you test positive what about the people you’ve been around in the queue could not be transmitted to them and not show up for a couple of days whilst you are on site?

What happens to the people you travel down with? This would surely encourage more separate journeys which goes against the green mantra of the festival.

Where so people all stay whilst they are waiting for the results?

I really feel the better option is testing a day before you leave for the festival and logging your result online against your reg.

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23 minutes ago, zahidf said:

I read that as Knight pushing for the sector with a misrepresentation

yeah, maybe. But as it's so obviously incorrect, I'm not sure bullshit forwards the cause. I'm not even sure the suggested insurance forwards the cause.

Cos the suggested insurance would be very weird. It's one thing the govt underwriting (say) flooding risks, but another when they're the ones in control of what happens for the thing being insured: if festivals are cancelled and govt has to pay out insurance money it'll be because of changed measures the govt has put in place.

But the main reason why I can't see that insurance happening is because it's just about impossible to define what's a cancellation caused by covid in a way that'll work for festivals.

Is it because no festivals are allowed, or because a festival doesn't want to go ahead with whatever anti-covid measures are in place - without anyone knowing what particular anti-covid measures might be in place? It seems too much of a moving goalpost.

My opinion has always been that the govt needs to say now-ish what will happen going forwards - which should be very possible to do now/soon-ish with the vaccine rolling out. 

A plan for what they hope will be allowed in April, & May, & June (and onwards) - and set against some markers, of vaccine roll-out, death levels, infection levels, etc.

So, for example, if that plan said 'face masks in crowds but nothing else' for (say) June, Glastonbury could plan AND probably get insurance (if it chose to go ahead under mask conditions).

Edited by eFestivals
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6 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

Testing on the gate seems crazy, say you test positive what about the people you’ve been around in the queue could not be transmitted to them and not show up for a couple of days whilst you are on site?

What happens to the people you travel down with? This would surely encourage more separate journeys which goes against the green mantra of the festival.

Where so people all stay whilst they are waiting for the results?

I really feel the better option is testing a day before you leave for the festival and logging your result online against your reg.

I agree it's crazy but if it was to work I think the answers could be

1) there's a test before and a test on arrival, so the chance of developing symptoms would be low. They'd add a test centre on site so if you had the symptoms they'd tell you to get tested (No one would do this but it'd look like they're doing something)

 

2) People you travel down with would be encouraged to wear masks in cars and they might ask you who you've arrived with but there's no way for them to police this and stop people lying when asked. So I think the only rejected entries would be positive tests.

3) I think they'd stay in the current queues which take several hours but essentially to get into that queue you'd have to do the test. So it's like two queues. So the entrances would need rejigging.

 

 

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40 minutes ago, stuartbert two hats said:

You can think of it as testing something different. What you really want to know is whether there's a high probability of someone causing an infection, not necessarily whether they have any traces of the virus in their system. On that basis, the antigen tests aren't really "less accurate", they're just testing for something different - which is actually more in line with what you need to know in order to decide whether to let someone into the festival.

Kind of. Ideally the festival would like to know if you have COVID whether your highly infectious or not, but that's not practical. So I would still say antigen is the less accurate test for whether you have COVID or not.

It's not like they'd let you in if someone has a positive PCR test but a negative antigen test. 

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20 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

I agree it's crazy but if it was to work I think the answers could be

1) there's a test before and a test on arrival, so the chance of developing symptoms would be low. They'd add a test centre on site so if you had the symptoms they'd tell you to get tested (No one would do this but it'd look like they're doing something)

 

2) People you travel down with would be encouraged to wear masks in cars and they might ask you who you've arrived with but there's no way for them to police this and stop people lying when asked. So I think the only rejected entries would be positive tests.

3) I think they'd stay in the current queues which take several hours but essentially to get into that queue you'd have to do the test. So it's like two queues. So the entrances would need rejigging.

 

 

All fair points and they would work but seem crazy to me. A test before and on arrival would be fine as it covers both eventualities giving them an extra layer of protection. But it will create so many added issues though, take away that from the site and have people carry out 2 tests in the week up to the festival.

Edited by Ozanne
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5 minutes ago, Ozanne said:

All fair points and they would work but seem crazy to me. A test before and on arrival would be fine as it covers both eventualities giving them an extra layer of protection. But it will create so many added issues though, take away that from the site and have people carry out 2 tests in the week up to the festival.

But it's then putting trust into people testing.

 

I think one outside the grounds during the week and one at the actual festival.

I'll happily take the hit on waiting longer to ensure it actually goes ahead.

 

But again this seems to be down to insurance and that'll be a bitch to get sorted 

 

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2 minutes ago, TGCarr said:

But it's then putting trust into people testing.

 

I think one outside the grounds during the week and one at the actual festival.

I'll happily take the hit on waiting longer to ensure it actually goes ahead.

 

But again this seems to be down to insurance and that'll be a bitch to get sorted 

 

Didn’t Neil say insurance might not be a huge problem?

I’d wait in the queue for sure but to me this scenario seems like a nightmare to manage for the reason I said above. Admittedly testing before the event and logging a result isn’t fool prove but no outcome is here. There could be a way to log your result so the festival know you’ve actually taken the test and it’s negative maybe, I’m not sure on that. 
 

There’s no easy answer but I think the one thing they should do regardless of what route they go is give the option toll roll your ticket for 2022 if you do test positive either in the queue at the gates or the week before. 

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1 minute ago, Ozanne said:

Didn’t Neil say insurance might not be a huge problem?

Not quite that.

Covid-caused cancellation insurance isn't available. There's no necessity in law for a festival to have that (or any cancellation insurance), but the organiser would be personally carrying the risk of cancellation.

Otherwise, normal insurance is available.

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2 hours ago, efcfanwirral said:

 

My worry is that if testing is needed and distancing is reduced to the point a festival can happen then LOADS of people will test positive from normal every day interactions because it will be spreading everywhere. That's a lot of people not allowed in, and not everyone is lucky enough to be able to isolate beforehand - if you work in a pub etc you'd have a very high chance of not being allowed in and it wouldn't be your fault. 

And for what reason? If you can do literally anything else (which will be the case if gatherings are allowed) you can catch it anywhere at any time so I dont see the reason for festivals or government caring about whether it's on site or not.

But it wont be spreading everywhere in June.

I'd estimated less than 0.1% will have it on the specific day before Glastonbury for a wide range of reasons and distancing will still be encouraged and partly practiced where it's easy to do so in June. 

If a tiny number of people miss out for the common good, it's bad luck but that's life - it's got nothing to do with whose fault it is.

And of course your ticket will be rolled over. 

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1 minute ago, xxialac said:

But it wont be spreading everywhere in June.

I'd estimated less than 0.1% will have it on the specific day before Glastonbury for a wide range of reasons and distancing will still be encouraged and partly practiced where it's easy to do so in June. 

If a tiny number of people miss out for the common good, it's bad luck but that's life - it's got nothing to do with whose fault it is.

And of course your ticket will be rolled over. 

And of course probably many people also miss it due to other occurrences illnesses broken bones etc in a standard year .... it still happens ... 

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4 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

And of course probably many people also miss it due to other occurrences illnesses broken bones etc in a standard year .... it still happens ... 

Exactly, that.

And, crucially you can't 100% eliminate chance of catching it (e.g. because of work) but you can still reduce your risk through your behaviour in the run up to the event - so you have a degree of control.

No French kissing strangers in the run-up to it!

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I guess if testing is required maybe staggered arrival slots would help; not sure I'd be too happy if I landed a Friday morning slot mind but if entry is significantly delayed and social distancing prior to testing/entry is advised then it would make sense.

Personally, I'd rather the option of rolling over should significant changes be required. All or nothing!

Edited by Barney McGrew
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14 minutes ago, Barney McGrew said:

I guess if testing is required maybe staggered arrival slots would help; not sure I'd be too happy if I landed a Friday morning slot mind but if entry is significantly delayed and social distancing prior to testing/entry is advised then it would make sense.

Personally, I'd rather the option of rolling over should significant changes be required. All or nothing!

Staggered arrival times would scupper those early arrivals who plan to dash for Pennards/Row Mead etc. 

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5 hours ago, JoeyT said:

So yesterday I was speaking to one of our suppliers who works at Silver Hayes during the festival and on the day Pfizer released their efficacy results he was speaking to someone who is higher up the chain than him.

Basically he was told that the festival were planning on going ahead using mass PCR 15 minute testing at the gate regardless.

15 minute PCR test does not exist. Seems a pipedream🤔

Edited by Lycra
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