Latitude Festival To Go Ahead At Full Capacity As Part Of UK’s Events Research

Lana Del Rey performed at Latitude Festival 2019.
Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images – Lana Del Rey performed at Latitude Festival 2019.
Being part of the UK government

Latitude Festival will go ahead at its full capacity of 35,000 at Henham Park in Suffolk, England, July 22-25, thanks to its inclusion in the UK government’s Events Research Program (ERP).
The confirmed lineup includes Wolf Alice, The Chemical Brothers, Bastille, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bill Bailey, Katherine Ryan, Jo Brand Reginald D. Hunter, Simon Amstell and more.
“Ticket holders will be asked for either proof of a negative lateral flow test taken within 48 hours of arrival at the festival, or proof of full vaccination, the second dose having been received at least 14 days prior to the first day of attending the festival,” promoters inform visitors.
Latitude Festival is promoted by Live Nation’s Festival Republic, headed by Melvin Benn, who was instrumental in previous ERP-sanctioned pilot events, including at Sefton Park in Liverpool. Several pilot events held in Liverpool showed no impact on virus spread, according to local news reports.
Benn commented: “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.
Many of the UK’s festivals were hoping the results of the government’s research would have already been published by now, giving decision makers the confidence to lift all remaining restrictions on social gatherings by June 21, as originally announced.
However, the date was moved to July 19. The government has since been sued by a group of live entertainment professionals, led by UK industry body LIVE.
Benn continued, “Everyone will be welcome to attend as long as they have a negative lateral flow test or proof of two vaccinations.
“After many months without live music and arts, we are ecstatic to return with a full capacity festival. Restarting festivals is crucially important to the wellbeing of everyone in society and we hope that Latitude will be the first of many festivals to take place this summer!”
The UK’s culture secretary Oliver Dowden commented: “We are working flat out to find a way to get festivals back up and running safely, so it is brilliant that Latitude will go ahead as part of the Events Research Programme and build on the success of our pilots at Download and Sefton Park.”
 
The news comes right at a time when the UK’s Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) announced that half of the country’s festivals with a 5,000-plus capacity have now cancelled their 2021 editions due to the delay in the UK’s reopening timeline, coupled with a lack of a government-backed insurance scheme, has caused more than half of the country’s festivals to cancel their 2021 editions.