LAST UPDATE | 28 May 2021
LIVE EVENTS ARE set to return to Ireland this summer, including an outdoor music festival in the Phoenix Park for 3,500 people.
Under the next stage of easing Covid-19 restrictions, some large live music and sport events will be held in June under a pilot scheme.
Additionally, smaller events with limited capacity will begin to return outdoors next month and indoors in July.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed that from 7 June, 200 attendees will be allowed at outdoor events at venues with a capacity of over 5,000, with 100 permitted in smaller venues.
“There will also be a number of pilot sporting and cultural events taking place in June and early July, to test the logistical requirements for further reopening,” Martin said.
From 5 July, indoor events can return with a maximum of 100 attendees in larger venues and 50 in others, as well as an increase in the numbers attending outdoor events. (This does not include weddings, which have separate guidelines).
Attendance can increase again from 5 August, with indoor event audiences allowed to double to 200 in larger venues and 100 in smaller ones.
On 10 June, an outdoor music event with an audience of 500 is to be piloted in Iveagh Gardens, followed by an indoor opera in the UL Concert Hall on 23 June with 519 attendees.
On 26 June, two fully-seated events are set to take place – an outdoor music festival with 3,500 people in Phoenix Park and an indoor music performance event in INEC Killarney with 200.
Details are not yet available on securing tickets to the pilot events.
The full list of pilot events detailed this evening are:
Speaking at the post-announcement briefing, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that even as restrictions on events and capacity limits ease, there are “difficulties” organisers may face in trying to put events together.
“It does take time to plan for these, to book acts, to get a license and get insurance,” Varadkar said.
The Táinaiste said that “what we will see across the summer maybe is smaller events, not the big ones, but perhaps the 5,000 to 10,000 [attendees] and they might be really nice”.
“It maybe won’t be big acts but local acts, and that can be fun,” he said.
Additionally, several sport matches and events have been given the green light under the pilot scheme.
The largest of these is the Camogie National League Finals in Croke Park on Saturday 20 June with a capacity of 3,000.
Friday 11 June will see:
Later in the month, Shamrock Rovers v Drogheda will play in Tallaght Stadium with 1,000 attendees on Friday 25 June.
The Athletics Ireland National Championships are to be held with 400 people in the Morton Stadium, Santry on Saturday 26 June.
At the end of June, 1,000 people can attend one day of a three-day race event at the Curragh.
In a statement this evening, Minister Catherine Martin said these pilot events will allow for sports organisations to test necessary control and other measures in stadia across a range of areas.
Martin also said that rules surrounding live music at pubs and events will also be reviewed in the coming weeks.
“The intention is that the pilots will pave the way for even more matches, games and other sporting events to be attended by spectators further into July and August with capacity increasing all the time throughout the summer,” she said.
In addition to the trial events, the Government also today announced that from 7 June, numbers permitted at organised outdoor events can increase to a maximum of 100 for the majority of venues, with a maximum of 200 for outdoor stadia/venues where there is a minimum capacity of 5000.
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