MAY | AGENDA
Industry views
Rugby Football
Union Chief
Executive Bill
Sweeney
European countries ban events until 31 August
A number of European countries
have announced bans on large
gatherings until 31 August,
cancelling a number of high-profile
events in the process.
Denmark were the first to extend
the event ban until the end of the
summer, and were quickly followed
by Germany and Belgium. Events
such as Roskilde, Tomorrowland,
Rock Werchter and Pukkelpop will
all not be able to go ahead.
A statement on Roskilde’s website
commented: “Though we feared this
would happen, we have until now
hoped that it wouldn’t end this way.
However, the risk of getting infected
with the Covid-19 virus is too large
when many people are gathered,
and that consideration is by far the
most important. Consequently,
there will be no Roskilde Festival
this summer.”
In some regions of these
countries, events have been banned
until as late as October – the
regional government in Berlin, for
example, has banned all large scale
events until 24 October, ruling out
the Berlin marathon. At the moment,
this late October date for banning
events remains the outlier.
French President Emmanuel
Macron has also extended his
country’s event ban until “mid-July”,
while in Austria gatherings have
been banned until the end of June.
Belgium and France have not
as yet clarified what constitutes
a ‘major event’, so some small
festivals and events have a chance
of going ahead. All major festivals
within those dates will be unable to
go ahead, however.
In the UK, an exact date has not
been set for the unbanning of events
and large gatherings, but they are
all on hold for the foreseeable future
with lockdown measures in place.
The Republic of Ireland has also
instated a ban on major public
gatherings of more than 5,000
people until 1 September.
It means no major festival,
concerts, or sporting events will
be able to go ahead in the country
this summer. Local authorities are
to be told not to grant licenses for
large events during this period, in an
attempt to combat Covid-19.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he
hoped to announce the lifting of
some restrictions by 5 May, although
he added he did not want to give
false assurances.
The Irish government said the
advice to ban major events would
be “kept under review” in line with
public health advice on mass
gatherings.
730 people have died of Covid-19
in Ireland, with just over 16,000 total
cases.
Pictured: Grand Place in Brussels
Organiser
statement from
Hellfest
Penny Banks,
owner of
eponymous
hospitality
supplier
“The RFU is pleased to
be able to support the
Covid-19 drive-through
testing programme at
Twickenham Stadium
for NHS and other key
workers. We receive
tremendous support
from frontline services
during match days, and
are grateful for the
opportunity to support
them.”
“Only two words come to
[us] for [our] specialised
event and audiovisual
insurance company: F**K
YOU!” - Organisers of the
French heavy metal festival
have some choice words for
ALBINGIA, which rejected
their claim for being the
‘wrong type’ of pandemic
insurance.
“[Yorkshire Bank] said we
would need to borrow an
astronomical figure, twice
as much as I forecast, and
that they were not willing
to lend it to us.” – Business
owner Penny Banks is
among many in the events
industry being let down by
banks offering Coronavirus
Business Interruption
Loans.
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