Spain to host 1,000-cap pilot gig for clinical study

Following in the footsteps of Germany’s Restart-19 project, The Apolo hall in Barcelona will host a pilot concert with over 1,000 participants that will serve as a clinical study.

Organised by Primavera Sound, the Fight Against Aids and Infectious Diseases Foundation, and the Germans Trias hospital in Barcelona for this October, the pilot will aim to establish the effectiveness of conducting rapid coronavirus tests at a live music event in a closed environment.

The study will require each attendee to undergo a rapid antigen test, which detects coronavirus in minutes, on the same day of the concert. Only those with negative test results will be permitted to attend the gig.

Then, before the doors of the venue are opened, a PCR test will also be carried out on half of the participants to evaluate the effectiveness of rapid tests as a screening strategy in large events.

During the concert, participants will have to wear a protective mask at all times, except when consuming beverages, and use disinfectant gel. The day of the concert and the artist(s) who will perform have not yet been confirmed.

The pilot will aim to establish the effectiveness of conducting rapid tests at a live music event in a closed environment

Eight days after the concert, a second rapid antigen test will be carried out on all attendees and a new PCR will be carried out on the participants who have already been tested on the day of the event.

The objective of the study is to test different formulas that can guarantee the creation of a safe environment for the realisation of live events in closed spaces in times of Covid-19.

The Spanish pilot event is a smaller-scale version of Germany’s Restart-19, which saw 1,500 volunteers spent ten hours inside Arena Leipzig on 22 August as part of a scientific experiment that aimed to show how coronavirus travels at indoor events.

The study comprised three concerts by singer Tim Bendzko: one with no social distancing at all, pre-coronavirus style; one with “optimised hygiene measures”, such as more entrances/exits and some distance between concertgoers; and one with full social distancing, with attendees seated 1.5 metres apart.

The results from Restart-19 will be revealed on the 22 October.

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