Experiments with festivals, football matches starting next month

From mid-February, the Netherlands will be experimenting with various public events, to see what can be managed during the pandemic. Attendees will be tested for the coronavirus beforehand, and in some cases also afterwards, NOS reports.

The first event is a business conference in the Beatrix Theater in Utrecht, which 500 people will attend. The second experiment Guido Weijers performing for three groups of 250, 200 and 50 people in the same theater.

There will be two experiments with football matches. On February 20, NEC will play De Graafschap in Nijmegen. 1,500 people can attend in six groups of 250 people. On February 28, Almere City will play at home against Cambuur. Here too 1,500 people can attend in three bubbles of 200, 600 and 700.

Two music events in the Ziggo Dome and two outdoor festivals in Biddinghuizen are also on the list of experiments, though exactly what they will look like and their dates are not yet clear. Fieldlab Events, the association for the events sector, got permission from four Ministries to conduct these experiments. 

"In the Ziggo Dome and on the outdoor area in Biddinghuizen, the behavior of hundreds of people will be monitored. Exactly how many can participate is not yet known," Fieldlab spokesperson Tim Boersma said to NOS.

"Visitors to these festivals and concerts will be subject to the condition that they must submit a negative PCR test in advance, which is taken no more than 48 hours before the event. They must have themselves tested again five days after the event. The tests are free because they participate in a trial," Boersma said.