Recently live music, promoters, artists and fans are ready to resume performances as the pandemic subsidies and more people are becoming vaccinated. Although artists’ main objective is for the audience to enjoy the music and have fun, there are risks from COVID when it comes to being at the actual event.

“Going to a concert amidst COVID is obviously not safe,” senior Jenna Chouman said. “All events I have recently been to, or am going to attend in the future, require you to be fully vaccinated.” 

Chouman recently attended the Governors Ball music festival on Sept. 25 in New York and a TV Girl concert in D.C. on Oct. 9 and believed she felt generally safe from contracting COVID in those venues. 

From socially-distant concerts to drive-in concerts, event planners are coming up with new methods to bring people together in a secure environment. Fans, artists and employees must show proof of full vaccination or have a negative test result to be admitted into many music venues around the United States. For example, The Anthem which is located in Washington D.C. requires all patrons to be fully vaccinated and show proof at the venue. 

“I feel like attending large concerts is not the safest thing, but if they are requiring vaccination cards or proof it makes me feel a lot better about the situation,” senior Arjun Rajan said.

Rajan attended a TV girl concert in D.C. on Oct.9 and is quite hesitant about attending another one, but as long as the venue is small and everyone is vaccinated, he will feel safe to attend. 

While the CDC states that being outside in a large setting is a safer choice to prevent catching COVID, the agency also advises people to keep a distance of six feet and restrict the amount of time spent at the concert. 

Lollapalooza, Latitude, Camp Bestival and Wilderness are just a few of the outdoor concerts where they have been putting immunization and testing methods into operation this year. For example, at Lollapalooza which was held in Chicago from July 29 to August 1, 90% of the festival’s 400,000 guests arrived properly vaccinated, with 12% of those fans claiming that Lollapalooza inspired them to become vaccinated, according to VaxUpForMusic.

Common venue safety precautions include masks to be required at all times, a timed entry – where fans will enter the arena at specific times and contactless temperature scans. This encourages social separation alongside decreased exposure. 

According to Ticketmaster, these safety precautions will allow both the event staff and fans to remain safe. 

“I attended a Pitbull Concert at the Verizon Center on Sep 29, and I felt comfortable because everyone was wearing their masks and fully vaccinated,” freshman Prisha Phutela said.