A report from the U.K. government’s Event Research Programme (ERP) was published last Friday detailing the data from nightclub events, the BRIT Awards, the FA Cup Final, and other mass gatherings. While the results look promising, the ERP has warned that the numbers may be skewed due to the low number of PCR tests returned after the events. Less than half of attendees at Liverpool pilot events reportedly returned their PCR test results, and overall, only 15% of attendees returned results at all.

Results cover the first series of pilot events, which ran up until May 15th. More recent events like Download Festival and Royal Ascot‘s horse races are not included in the initial report, so the ERP will have clearer data once the next report is compiled.

The U.K. nightlife sector currently remains locked down. Originally, nightclubs and other similar establishments were slated to reopen on June 21st, but the lift on COVID-19 restrictions has now been postponed to July 19th. Protesters took to the streets of central London on Sunday to demonstrate their desire for the restrictions to be lifted in Save Our Scene‘s #FreedomToDance marches, where 23 people were arrested.

“We are being marginalized by a Government that has no regard or value for our sector, we have businesses suffering, people’s livelihoods destroyed and youth culture excluded,” said Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association. “It’s time to give us the certainty that we have been crying out for, and open the nighttime economy fully, no more excuses.”

The gathering will mark the first major event after several cancelations following new COVID-19 restrictions introduced by U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Attendees will have the chance enjoy indie, rock, pop, and electronic music as well as comedy and other arts performances. Bastille, Rudimental, and The Chemical Brothers are headlining amongst others; 35,000 guests are expected.

Melvin Benn, the festival director of Latitude, said in a statement: “We have been working extremely hard to make sure that Latitude Festival can go ahead safely at full capacity. Becoming an ERP event gives us the security of going ahead.“ 

“Crucially the additional research collected at Latitude will benefit all festivals and live events moving forward.” Benn continued. “Everyone will be welcome to attend as long as they have a negative lateral flow test or proof of two vaccinations.”

Latitude is an annual music festival that first took place in 2006 at Henham Park. It has showcased a comprehensive bill of artists throughout its history. Among them are The Black Keys, Bloc Party and Lana del Rey as well as the legendary Kraftwerk.

The gathering also comprises elements of theatre, art, comedy, cabaret, poetry, politics, dance, and literature. Latitude has won multiple awards including “Best Major Festival” in 2017 at the UK Festival Awards.

Find further information regarding tickets and time table for the 2021 event on LatitudeFestival.com.

As with previous outings planned in partnership with the ERP, the purpose of the test event is to gauge COVID-19 transmissions resulting from mass gatherings. Findings will be used to determine feasibility of large-scale events in the future.

10,000 guests with negative lateral flow and PCR tests will be allowed to participate without masks or social distancing. Afterwards, researchers from Public Health England will monitor possible transmissions.

Download Festival’s March 2021 event was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Their participation in the U.K.’s phased reopening program comes with risks as well as the potential of a positive outcome of the ERP.

Previous pilots found 15 out of 58,000 people tested positive in the wake of trial events. That being said, ERP research suggests that mass events are as safe as shopping or eating at a restaurant. 

Download Festival is a British rock gathering that has taken place annually at Donington Park since 2003. Organizers report about 100,000 attendees per year under ordinary circumstances. The 2022 edition has already been announced for June 10th-12th with over 90 acts confirmed.

Organizers have yet to put tickets on sale for the 2021 event. Additional information can be found on the Download Festival website.

The Times cited a source with the U.K. government as having given the encouraging outlook. They said, “We are still waiting for the final bits of data but the results so far have been very encouraging…It will help make the case that these large events are not inherently more risky than other parts of the hospitality sector.”

“It shows that there are things that you can do to make these settings as safe as other daily activities,” they continued. “It is true that they are not going to be 100% safe but you can lower the risk to a reasonable level.”

The ERP events required attendees to take lateral flow tests beforehand and undergo a PCR test five days later. Among the gatherings were Circus’ two-day warehouse club night, the FA Cup Final, and the BRIT Awards – all in Liverpool. Festival Republic has also propose a 10,000 capacity camping test event for mid June.

The emergence of the B.1.617.2 COVID-19 variant, first identified in India, could nonetheless spell trouble for U.K. live events. Writing for ITV, Robert Peston cited another government source as having said that the chances of entering step four of reopening as planned on June 21st were “close to nil.”

The U.K. government may still impose region-specific lockdowns similar to the traffic light system introduced in October.

Festival Republic Managing Director Melvin Benn announced the proposed event on May 13th. The gathering will see them partner with the U.K. government’s Events Research Programme (ERP), according to Benn. The promoter was also responsible for the 5,000 capacity greenfield festival test at Liverpool’s Sefton Park on May 1st.

There have been additional test projects across the U.K. 4,500 guests attended the BRIT Awards last week and 21,000 attendees were allowed to be at Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup finals last weekend. Circus also organized a warehouse club event of 6,000 in Liverpool called The First Dance on April 29th-30th.

“It’s about testing the protocols around using COVID-19 certification on the NHS app, and it’s also around testing the protocols of what the SAGE scientists here in the U.K. want, which is at-home testing for all attendees that don’t have the vaccination and are not immune,” Benn told IQ Magazine. “It’s not like Reading or Lollapalooza Chicago or anything like that, but it’s a decent number and certainly, a number that they can adequately take data from and multiply.”

He continued: “The area that they are significantly most concerned about is not so much the venues, they know (the staff) will look after everybody at the venues, it is public transport. It is large amounts of people squashed with no circulation on buses coming into Glasgow city center, or coming on tubes into Wembley Stadium. I believe that’s the area they are more concerned about, compared to the actual venues themselves, particularly outdoor venues.”

Festival Republic is a U.K. music event promoter. The brand was founded under the name Mean Fiddler Group by John Vincent Power in 1982 as a venue management and music promotion group. It’s responsible for major happenings like Reading Festival, Leeds Festival and EDC UK, amongst others. They also produce BBC Proms In The Park and BBC Radio 2 Live In Hyde Park.

At the time of writing, it has not been confirmed that the pilot event will take place. Benn intends for it to happen in mid-June.

The lead scientist overseeing the two-night pilot gathering was Iain Buchan of the University of Liverpool. The First Dance, as it was called, was organized in partnership with Yousef‘s Circus event brand. The Liverpool native accompanied Sven Väth, The Blessed Madonna, Jayda G, Jaguar, Enzo Siragusa and others on the lineup.

All attendees were required to have a Liverpool address and take rapid tests before and after the event. Face masks, hand sanitizing, and social distancing were not required. The results of the follow-up tests will inform how lawmakers approach the return of live events in the coming months.

“The risk of encountering someone positive in there might be 1 in 5,000,” Buchan told The New York Times based on the 69 COVID-19 cases reported in Liverpool in the week leading up to the event.

Depending on the results, the trial gatherings could bolster confidence in a reopening timeline shared by U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson in February. If vaccination remains steady, nightlife could resume as soon as June 21st, according to the government’s step-by-step reopening process.

The event will have been one of 10-15 organized in Liverpool by the Events Research Programme. Others include cinemas, sporting events and the BRIT Awards.