Summerfest and Bonnaroo on Tuesday became the latest U.S. music festivals to announce that attendees will be required to show they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have tested negative in the previous three days.
Less than a month before Summerfest begins in Milwaukee and Bonnaroo kicks off in Manchester, Tennessee, their organizers stated festival-goers will need to meet either criterion to enter.
Milwaukee World Festival Inc., the company that operates Summerfest, said the policy will apply for the annual concert series, slated for three weekends in September, as well as a preview show this week.
“We collaborated with national health experts and music industry executives and determined this was the best course of action for Summerfest,” said Don Smiley, the company’s president and CEO.
Bonnaroo, which is currently set for Sept. 2-5, announced several hours later that it also will require its attendees to show proof they are fully vaccinated or recently tested negative for COVID-19.
“The safety of our patrons and staff is our number one priority. As such a full COVID-19 vaccination or negative COVID-19 test will be required to attend Bonnaroo 2021,” the festival announced online.
“Bonnaroo strongly encourages vaccination,” said the announcement from the festival, which also said rapid tests will be available the concert site.
Lollapalooza, a music festival typically held yearly in Chicago, required its attendees to show either proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test result when it took place late last month.
More than 90% of Lollapalooza attendees were fully vaccinated, according to Joe Berchtold, the chief financial officer for Live National Entertainment, the music industry giant that puts on the event.
Live Nation has since announced that it will let artists decide whether they want concertgoers to be required to prove they are either fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have recently tested negative.
Vaccination cards and test results are not difficult to forge, however. And while they prevent severe illness from COVID-19, vaccines aren’t nearly so effective at stopping the infected from transmitting the virus.
Artists scheduled to perform as part of Summerfest include Green Day, Weezer, Guns N’ Roses, the Dave Matthews Band, Luke Bryan, Chance the Rapper, Chris Stapleton and the Jonas Brothers, among several more.
Headliners for this year’s Bonnaroo festival include Foo Fighters, Megan Thee Stallion, Lizzo, Tame Impala, Tyler the Creator and Rufus Du Soul. Four-day tickets are sold out.
A little more than half of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
More than 615,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19 since the coronavirus pandemic erupted in China in late 2019. Virtually all major touring acts had stopped performing to crowds by mid-2020.
