by Sam Tallon
Sefton Park has become the backdrop to one of the UK’s first live events since March 2020.
Blossoms, an indie band from Greater Manchester, headlined the event which took place on May 2.
As part of the Events Research Programme, the event took place with no masks or social distancing with all attendees needing to provide proof of a negative Covid test.
Nick Cockwill, who attended the event, said: “The only doubt I had about going was whether or not I was going to test negative and then my ticket would get cancelled.
“As long as I knew that everyone else was negative, I was quite happy to go.”
Claire McColgan, the Director of Culture Liverpool, said: “This is a chance for us to prove that you can do events safely.
“You can work with brilliant partners like Festival Republic, the Good Business Festival and Circus and we can get this economy up and running really safely.”
Got to say a really big well done to everyone involved in last night’s pilot gig at Sefton Park – really well organised and an amazing night all round pic.twitter.com/I2VJqAmuKo
— Liam Thorp 💙 (@LiamThorpECHO) May 3, 2021
The event was looking to see how crowds mixing outdoors affected the spread of Covid-19.
The club Circus also reopened for two nights as part of the programme.
The next set of restrictions are set to lift on May 17, which will see theatres and concert venues allowed to reopen for 1000 people.
With festivals announcing their dates this summer, it looks like a return to live events could soon be imminent.
