Event Safety Alliance Health and Safety Guidance for In-Person Events

HS Guidance.png

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Event Safety Alliance has offered guidance for event and venue professionals trying to decide when and how they could reopen for live events. In May 2020, we released the original Event Safety Alliance Reopening Guide, the product of a collaboration among more than 300 smart friends in every aspect of event production. In November, ESA issued a Six Month Update to reflect what we had learned to that point in time. In May 2021, ESA and the National Independent Venue Association (“NIVA”) joined forces to create the Safe in Sound reopening checklist.

Download the Event Safety Alliance Health and Safety Guidance for In-Person Events

Now, with vaccinations readily available, but the Delta variant wreaking havoc with mass gatherings once more, ESA is pleased to announce its latest Health and Safety Guidance for In-Person Events.

Note: Submitting this form will add you to the ESA’s mailing list. Your information will be used exclusively for ESA-related communications and will not be shared or sold.

  • This Guidance unapologetically follows the science and takes the position that vaccination is the single best way back to healthy in-person events.

  • It addresses common objections to vaccination with firm but respectful responses on the basis of law, medical status, and religion.

  • The Guidance discusses the science of face coverings and why venues and event promoters can require them as a condition of entering private property or private events.

  • The Guidance discusses the relative merits of PCR and rapid antigen tests as infection mitigation measures.

  • There is a discussion why symptom-based testing works poorly with COVID-19.

  • The Guidance concludes with a discussion of hygiene measures like hand sanitizer in the context of this pandemic and public events generally.

  • Throughout the document, factual assertions are supported by hyperlinked source material for further reading.

Everyone is entitled to their own political or social views. ESA offers no opinion on those subjects. Rather, the Health and Safety Guidance for In-Person Events is intended to answer commonly asked questions at this moment during the pandemic and empower event professionals with reliable information about applicable science and law. Our goal is nothing less than encouraging a return to in-person events in a way that is both economically viable and healthy and safe for guests, workers, and performers.