Live Nation has updated its guidelines for attending concerts and festivals amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Rolling Stone points out. The company will now require all artists, crew members and participants to provide proof of a full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test at their venues and festivals starting October 4th. All Live Nation employees must also be vaccinated by October 4th to attend any of the company’s venues or events or to visit one of its offices. The company made it clear that the mandate will be enforced where permitted by law. Read the whole story here.
“Vaccines will be your ticket back to shows,” Live Nation President and CEO Michael Rapino said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “As of October 4th, we’re following the model we developed for Lollapalooza, and we’re promoting this for artists, fans, and staff at Live Nation venues and festivals across the US.” Pitchfork reached out to Live Nation representatives to ask for more information.
Live Nation had previously revealed a policy allowing artists to require vaccinations for audiences. The updated policy follows an announcement that Lollapalooza 2021 was not a super-spreader event. Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner for the Chicago Department of Health, announced last week that Chicago has tracked a total of 203 COVID-19 cases identified with attending Lollapalooza and that no hospital admissions or deaths due to attendance were made by August 11 reported. An estimated 385,000 people attended the event.
Concert promoter AEG recently announced a mandate to provide proof of full vaccination for concert-goers and event staff for all of its shows, which will go into effect from October 1st in states where it’s legal through October 1st.
Individual artists have signed up over the past few weeks specifying their own vaccine and testing requirements for tours and concerts, including Bleachers, Jason Isbell, Japanese Breakfast, and more.
Read “What does a music festival look like during a pandemic? We’re about to find out ”over on the field.
