Peter Noble reveals how festivals must change & adapt post-COVID

Peter Noble is preparing for the return of Bluesfest in April of 2021, and has given a snapshot at what punters can expect.

Speaking with Tom Tilley and Jamila Rizvi on SCA’s The Briefing podcast, Noble said people should expect significant changes to what they are used to at festivals.

“If you look at an event site like Bluesfest we are what’s called a major recreational facility, we have developed an events site,” he said.

“That is what the return of music is going to look like. It’s going to be seated, it’s going to be socially distanced.”

When asked specifically what Bluesfest might look like, Noble revealed he’s still working through a lot of it with authorities and doesn’t have a “concrete answers”, before going on to describe what he is expecting the experience to be like.

“From the minute that you arrive for the person that’s bought their ticket… from the moment they park their car they’re going to be facilitated to enter, to where they go, to where they are going to sit and watch the event, they have to feel like they’re being treated in a manner that’s safe.

“I don’t think that standing events are going to be part of our near future,” he continued.

During The Briefing chat, the Bluesfest organiser warned that if music events can’t return early next year, the industry may find it very hard to find its way back to health.

“We in the music industry look at all our colleagues who are out of work, no income for many go, ‘We have to be part of the return of our industry, because if we’re not, if we don’t come back to the summer season of 2021, our industry is going to be decimated.’

“As an industry we’ve got to come back and present safe events. There is no alternative in my opinion.”

TMN recently caught up with Noble to chat about the booking process around next year’s Bluesfest, and his Plan B for an all-Aussie lineup.

Listen to the full chat below: