UK festivals could be cancelled as so-called “Pingdemic” continues

As thousands are being told to isolate daily by the NHS Test & Trace app in the UK, the so-called “Pingdemic” might be putting UK Festivals at risk of cancellation.

As over 600,000 people were told to isolate last week, the real concern falls with festival staff, as if too many are forced to isolate there could become a shortage of staff workers across festivals, hence putting many of them in danger of cancellation. As everyone from organisers to performers and attendees have been affected, the music industry as a whole is calling out to the government for support, during what is being widely dubbed as the “Pingdemic”. Its becoming more evident by the day that urgent assistance is needed to protect the remaining festivals that are still to come during the popular summer circuit.

Although, the government recently announced that after August 16, those who have been fully vaccinated will not need to isolate if “pinged” by Test & Trace, this change will arrive far too late for many UK festivals. Speaking of the challenges that the live music industry currently faces, Paul Reed, chief executive of the Association of Independent Festivals voiced his concerns;

“We’ve already heard anecdotal accounts of marquee companies isolating at home because their entire team’s being pinged so they can’t actually get to the site.” […] “I’ve heard of site managers getting pinged, and obviously that’s work that you can’t switch to doing remotely.”

“(The changes) will be too late for some members, but in any event, festivals are largely staffed by younger workers who will not be fully vaccinated by 16 August.”

Over half of UK festivals have been cancelled this year due to the on-going pandemic, mainly due to the lack of government-backed insurance for the events, and hopefully that won’t soon be worsened by the “Pingdemic”.

Image Credit: BBC