Could this festival be the future of live music?
Amsterdam is still under lockdown, and restrictions are unlikely to be eased any time soon. However, Amsterdam is a city of music-lovers, with a particular penchant for festivals and dance music, and the city is looking at ways in which it could adapt to the pandemic but still allow people to mix in such large numbers. In order to try and compile some conclusive data on whether or not large events can take place safely during the pandemic, a new experiment is underway in the city. 1,300 people attended the experimental Feildlab Festival at the amazing Ziggo Dome in Biddinghuizen, and they certainly looked as though they were having fun! [Photos: @ziggodome – previous ‘Back To Live’ events]
Eerste moshpit in 13 maanden 😭
@BacktoLiveNL @FieldlabEvents #gotujim #backtolive pic.twitter.com/LlvYPgRLcU
— Erik Luyten (@ErikLuyten) March 21, 2021
Over 100,000 people had applied to attend the event and attendees paid just €15 per person for their tickets. The event happened during daylight and everyone was asked to wear a mask throughout the festival. To try and ensure no outbreak of Covid-19 at the event, everyone was also tested for Covid-19 before the festival, and only those who tested negative for Covid-19 were allowed to participate.
Back to live, back to reality🔥 #3FM #Fieldlab pic.twitter.com/vqj4mmuHh5
— 3FM | We Want More! (@3FM) March 21, 2021
In order to track how saliva could spread the virus at an event, drinks were dyed a fluorescent colour, and people’s movements were also tracked via an app to see how everybody socialised. It sounds like a once-in-a-pandemic opportunity, right? However, in reality, this wasn’t the first event of its kind. This is the sixth Fieldlab experiment, but we won’t know the results of these experiments until April when the findings will be published. More Fieldlab experiments will be taking place soon, with 5000 spectators due to attend the Netherlands V Latvia game on Saturday 27 March, and you can follow these events on the Fieldlab Evenementen website.