UK Music Chief responds to publication of government's Events Research Programme data

After the live music and theatre industries launched legal action against the UK government this week over their delay to publish the findings from the Events Research Programme, the data has finally been made public.

Today we have published a report about the first phase of the Events Research Programme, showing that mitigation measures can be used to reduce and manage risks associated with large events:https://t.co/mzCHArC60R pic.twitter.com/VjuR4evYOL

— DCMS (@DCMS) June 25, 2021

The UK government's Events Research Programme, which included the recent Download Festival Pilot, and will feature Latitude Festival in the next phase.

Njoku-Goodwin responded, "It's welcome that the Government has responded to our calls to publish this vital data on the pilot events. This is a critical step towards getting the live music industry up and running. The music industry has been working flat out to make gigs, concerts and festivals safe and reduce the risk of Covid transmission at events."

He continued, "The Events Research Programme data vindicates the massive efforts and innovations our sector has made to restart the live music industry. Now we have evidence showing events can take place safely, the Government must now give the green light for events to go ahead without social distancing from July 19. With 60,000 fans expected at Wembley for the Euros, thousands at Wimbledon and a capacity crowd of 140,000 at the Silverstone Grand Prix, it is only right that major live music events are also able to proceed safely."

The UK Music Chief Executive added, "We will continue talking to the Government to get as many live events back on stage as possible from the expected July 19 reopening date to deliver a great British summer of music. It is particularly welcome that the data shows there were no infections at the 3,500-capacity BRIT Awards."