Updating guidance launched today includes contributions from across the festival industry working in collaboration with DCMS and Public Health England.
Newly published festival guidance around Covid-19 will assist festival organisers, safety advisory group members, local directors of public health and other industry parties in assessing risk levels and planning festivals based on a flexible, pragmatic and realistic approach to the current pandemic.
The planning framework is a live document, and will be updated on a monthly basis. It has been developed by a coalition of industry bodies including the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) – whose Ops Group led on the document – the Association of Festival Organisers (AFO), the Events Industry Forum (EIF) and Attitude Is Everything.
The working group also includes the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and Public Health England (PHE) who provided input on the development of the guidance.
It covers eight key themes and Covid-19 safety measures, including medical and welfare arrangements; crowd considerations; response plans; security; site adjustments; and specific mitigation measures.
As the guidance is updated regularly, members of the working group will run monthly webinars to update the festival sector and others. Agencies at a national level are being invited to provide input on an ongoing basis.