Primavera Sound’s COVID-Safe Concert: A Step Towards Live Music
One of Europe’s most popular music festivals trialed a successful live music event last month, utilizing same-day COVID-19 screening to hold the event without social distancing.
Primavera Sound hosted a concert in December with 463 attendees at the 1608 Sala Apolo venue in Barcelona. Local DJs performed while every attendee was required to undergo a COVID-19 test, ensuring they had a negative result. Results were provided within just 15 minutes. The primary aim of the event was to explore if live music events could safely resume with appropriate precautions, eliminating the need for social distancing.
According to results released last week, there were two infections among the 496 control group (those who did not enter the concert); however, there were no infections among the 463 individuals who were permitted to attend. All participants were aged between 18 and 59 years, were without underlying conditions, and did not live with vulnerable people.
Primavera Sound collaborated with Hospital Germans Trias and Fight AIDS and Infectious Diseases Foundation to organize the event. Doctors Josep Maria Llibre and Boris Revollo, who spearheaded the PRIMA-CoV study, noted that antigen tests, FFP2 masks, and flow control were implemented during the concert. “The study allows us to assert that if you conduct a similar activity, it will be safe; however, the further you deviate from these parameters, the greater the uncertainty,” Llibre elaborated.
This cautious yet optimistic approach indicates that more evaluations are necessary before larger concerts can resume this year. Nonetheless, the event served as an informative rehearsal for future live music gatherings. “The primary objective of this study was to validate such tests as an exceptionally valuable tool for conducting any type of event, whether musical or otherwise, without social distancing,” the team stated in a report.
Primavera Sound had to cancel its 2020 event and is now poised to return from June 2-6, 2021, in Barcelona. Furthermore, for the first time, the festival aims to host an event in Los Angeles from September 18-19, 2021.
