TheDriveIn does grow, it will be to run more
frequent events rather than larger capacity
events. “We’re doing things at a size we
feel comfortable with, that doesn’t require
massive levels of staff. We’ve got about 150
cars at each event. There is a lot of potential
here, but we have to keep it manageable.
If people try and go too big with [socially
distanced events], it’s going to create a lot of
nervousness.”
Operating on a smaller scale will likely
be a continuing theme for events in 2020. I
suspect attendees to events will be willing
to pay slightly more for smaller, safer events
which are able to communicate well with
their audience. That will be key: it doesn’t
matter that you have a 100-page health and
safety manual if your audience hasn’t read
it. Everyone will have some understandable
reservations about attending events in 2020,
and organisers will need to reassure them.
Drive-in opera and sex dolls
2020’s alternate timeline continues to
throw up some truly bizarre news stories.
Seoul (Photo: Saveliy Bobov)
“FC SEOUL, A SOUTH KOREAN FOOTBALL TEAM, ACCIDENTALLY
FILLED ITS STADIUM WITH LIFE-SIZED SEX DOLLS INSTEAD OF
MANNEQUINS, AFTER A MIXUP WITH A SUPPLIER”
Here’s another curveball to add to the list
of socially distanced events: drive-in opera.
The English National Opera announced
in May that it plans to launch ENO Drive
& Live, a series of drive-in performances
in the grounds of Alexandra Palace. In
addition to audiences being apart, singers
and musicians will also be following social
distancing guidelines.
ENO chief executive Stuart Murphy said:
“Instead of clapping or shouting ‘bravo’, it
might be that people flash their lights or
honk their horn. As long as it’s authentic,
we’re not going to force it. It could attract
a whole new generation to opera, people
who love their car, see it as an extension
to themselves, as well as reassuring an
audience they can turn up totally safely.”
Some creative solutions have come
out of the world of sport, too. Borussia
Monchengladbach, a team in Germany’s
Bundesliga, filled its stadium with 12,000
cardboard cutouts of fans to provide
the illusion of a crowd (see p37). They
did a better job than FC Seoul, a South
Korean club which accidentally filled its
stadium with life-sized sex dolls instead of
mannequins, after a mixup with a supplier.
Clearly, filling a stadium with life-sized
sex dolls is not the way to hold a socially
distanced event. But organisers around
the world are beginning to figure out what
does work in this strange new world. While
socially distanced events are likely to be
smaller in format and restricted in size, they
can provide some necessary income in the
short term for those who are flexible enough
to give it a go. Beyond that, the creative
solutions which organisers are being forced
to come up with now may reappear further
down the line, inspiring major festivals in
2021.
To close our interview, I ask Crofton if
he thinks drive-in events have any staying
power, or if they’re purely a stop-gap
measure. “We’re looking to continue this,” he
says. “Its really hard to judge where things
are going to go for live events and festivals.
It might be a bit of a stop gap at the moment,
but the way the demand has come back to
us – it’s a style of event we’ll follow through
with, as long as there’s demand there.”
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