The return to normality in the nightlife sector, but more specifically in the festival sector, has arrived with a bang. After a black period for music with a pandemic as protagonist, the celebration of festivals returns to our lives, starting from scratch, in a new normality.
In this article we will review the situation experienced as a result of the famous pandemic, talk about how to deal with the situation by adapting to extraordinary measures of prevention and security and predict the return to a new normality long awaited.
The pandemic by COVID-19 which we have gotten through in the last few years has caused most sectors to have had to be reclaimed in order to adapt to the new times. The measures provided with the purpose of stopping the virus from advancing, have incurred large losses within the different sectors, but especially that of leisure, music and performance which have been forced to limit or suspend its activity throughout all this time.
One of the first measures that it was taken in Spain in order to stop the COVID-19 was the suspension of all non-essential activity and the home confinement of the population, thus opening up a new way of life completely different to which we were accustomed and having to adapt to new ways of working, communicating and even living. This hasn’t been easy for anybody, because some activities were indefinitely suspended, due to it was impossible to ensure the safety of citizens while it was taking place.
It is the case of leisure, music and performance that it was suspended or reduced its activity and limit it, for the purpose of respecting the ongoing sanitary measures (remember us of phases of de-escalation and the resumption of the activity). The first months after confinement and the state of alarm were subjected to multitude of constraints in terms of capacity, use of masks, bar consumption ban, limitation of cohabiting or non-cohabiting persons, that is to say, endless rules that we had to comply with in order to improve the situation.
It was thought that measures taken would be enough to slow down the COVID-19, what is not expected is that other new variants of the virus appeared and it made that the normality delay even more to come. This achievement of events made that leisure in general was one of the sectors most punished, and it prevented its activity with normality.
The closure of nightlife meant a limited situation for many businesses, in particular more than 4900 locals had to shut down. In addition, losses ascended to 2580 millions euros, figures far below what we were used to in the sector, which exceeded 20.000 millions euros before the declaration of state of alarm. The billing drop of nightlife meant losses of more than 300,000€ for every nightclub and 150,000€ in bars and concert halls.
The whole confinement of the country meant that most sectors had to reinvent themselves in order to adapt to the new reality. Festivals and concerts are the most affected, some of the most recognized such as Primavera Sound or Sonar have had to be postponed up to 2 years consecutively, because the pandemic advance and the restrictive measures prevented their celebration. It was in this way that they began to devise online festivals derived from the original ones, with the aim that spectators could enjoy their favorite music from anywhere and with the appropriate measures.
The trends that will mark the festivals throughout this year will be influenced by the COVID-19 crisis, because the situation has generally affected all companies.
The trends in the celebration of festivals change, as the blog Idasfest explains. It will undoubtedly be security, one of the trends that will be present at festivals from this time, because if something has been learned along this time is the need to feel safe at all times. That is why the capacity control will be essential to ensure that safety. It is something that the audience is familiar with in other areas and that is why it is important to include it in the development of the event.
Another thing to take into account is digitalization, which is already a reality in almost all sectors and that the situation by COVID-19 has taught us that it is important to have digital processes, because they facilitate the work and offer greater convenience for assistants when carrying out certain procedures from their own devices. Digitalization in this sector has come to stay, from the use of tools to capture Big Data that is generated to consumption at the bars.
If these trends are used in the right way, a great increase in sales will be achieved and will gradually make the sector resurface and can return to normality pre-pandemic after these hard years in which they have not been able to develop their activity normally.
This will be a before and after in the sector because for many it is perhaps a way of starting over, with everything much more controlled and studied, in order for its activity development to return to its best marks. It is expected to far exceed the expectations set by the promoters and other staff who make possible the development of such incredible and exciting festivals as the ones we were used to before COVID-19.