Government gives green light to outdoor performances

Today the government has announced that outdoor performances can go ahead from this Saturday (11 July). This means that open air gigs, festivals and theatre shows can resume, provided they have a “limited and socially distanced audience”.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced the news at a press conference from Downing Street this afternoon, putting us at ‘stage 3’ in his roadmap to getting theatres open again.

Pilot tests of small indoor performances with socially distanced audiences were also announced, allowing the government the opportunity to explore more options in how to get venues back up and running.

Dowden also announced a change in planning rules to protect theatres, concert halls and live music performance venues from demolition or change of use by developers.

The Culture Secretary said: “Our culture, heritage and arts are too precious to lose. That’s why we’re protecting venues like theatres from redevelopment if they fall on hard times. We are also giving further clarity on restart dates in our roadmap back to performance.

“From July 11, we can all enjoy performances outdoors with social distancing and we are working hard to get indoor audiences back as soon as we safely can, following pilots. Our scientific research project will also help speed up this journey. Combined with our £1.57bn rescue package, this is a comprehensive plan to help our brilliant arts organisations weather the Covid storm and bounce back stronger.”

The news means that venues such as the Minack Theatre in Cornwall will be able to reopen, to the relief of many in the sector.

Dowden followed his announcement by urging people to book tickets to outdoors events to help in kickstarting the cultural economy.

Full guidance has yet to be published but is expected later this evening. DCMS has said it will include restrictions on venue capacity and ticket sales, measures on deep cleaning, as well as guidance on socially distancing performers.