Pollstar (10/29/20) Gottfried, Gideon

The results of an experiment in crowd management at the Quarterback Immobilien Arena in Leipzig by German scientists on Aug. 22 offer insights for live event organizers to hold events safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic. German artist Tim Bendzko performed with 1,500 participants wearing contact tracing devices that collected data for subsequent analysis, while air flow was simulated with aerosols and fog machines. Participants also were required to wear masks. The data indicated that the overall number of contacts lasting several minutes was not very high, and could be lowered significantly with appropriate hygiene measures. A survey conducted after the concert found that about 90% of participants did not mind wearing a mask and were willing to continue to do so in order to be able to attend events again. Finally, as long as promoters uphold hygiene concepts, their events will have little impact on the pandemic. Halle University's Stefan Moritz said the experiment confirmed that not all event participants are making risky critical contact. "Therefore, events can take place even in a pandemic situation under certain conditions," he concluded. "The most important insight for us was the impact of a good ventilation technology, which is a key component when it comes to risk of contagion."

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