Glastonbury may be cancelled for a second year in a row, but that apparently hasn’t dampened UK festival fans’ hopes for 2021. In fact, according to a new study, 90 per cent of festival fans would feel comfortable attending a live event this year, as COVID restrictions lift and life returns to some version of normal.
The study, run by Festicket, surveys 140,000 fetivalgoers from across the UK, finding that 79 per cent of respondents would be comfortable attending a live event this summer (between June and August). That number goes up to 90 per cent when the rest of the year is taken into consideration.
82 per cent of fans, meanwhile, responded that they already have plans to attend two or more festivals or live events this year. Of course, that’s if they can get tickets, which have been in high demand for festivals still scheduled to go ahead, such as All Points East, TRNSMT, and Reading and Leeds.
There are some conditions for whether people feel comfortable about attending events, however. A majority (58.5 per cent) says that extra cleaning and hygiene measures are essential, while cashless and contactless systems also rank high on the list. 70 per cent suggested they’d be more likely to attend with a cashless system for bars, food vendors, and all other payments.
In lieu of Glastonbury 2021, organisers have announced a livestream event titled Live At Worthy Farm, offering another angle on how you can enjoy ‘live’ music this year. The show will see performances from the likes of Damon Albarn, HAIM, Jorja Smith, Kano, and Honey Dijon.
While the coronavirus pandemic has caused significant hardship for UK musicians and crew, things have started to look more hopeful in recent months, as experimental gigs yield positive results and provide suggestions on how to minimise risk. Last weekend, Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi concert hall hosted one of the biggest gigs since the initial outbreak of the virus, with 5,000 people in attendance.
