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A three-day rock festival previously dubbed a ‘Herd Immunity Fest’ went ahead last weekend, despite safety concerns over the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Later re-named the ‘July Mini Fest’ after a band pulled out due to controversy around its announcement, it becomes the first rock festival featuring major acts, such as LA metallers Static X, to take place since the pandemic started.
The event ran from 16-19 July in Ringle, Wisconsin and music fans in attendance have been sharing photos and videos from the event throughout the weekend.
One of the band’s performing at the event, Sponge, spoke about appearing the event to The Oakland Press. singer Vin Dombroski said: “[Festival organisers] got some pretty bad press but I felt like you had to give it a chance — maybe there’s something that will shed some light on how to do these things. There’s nothing up there. The area’s a cornfield.”
He added, “If we were gonna do anything like this, it felt like the safest bet I’d seen so far. I went with an open mind — and a little apprehension.”
Speaking about the crowd members in attendance, Dombroski said he saw fans social distancing. “I don’t know what’s going go on the other days, but from what I saw yesterday [the fans] were doing a good job [of social distancing]. I was a little surprised, but my experience was a positive one, as risky as it sounded.”
Organisers later shared some pictures of the weekend on Facebook and wrote: “just a couple of pictures to share. Things are going GREAT people are being very respectful…NOTICE the social distancing proving that LIVE MUSIC can be done during times like these.”
You can see footage from the festival below.
#july #mini #music #festival #fuckcovid19 #rock #metal #friends #ringle #wisconsin @deadfootarmsllc @adelitasway @dopetheband @1075therock @onemetallicatb @flaw_502 @vsmeband @imperialfallofficial @offical_thunderstruckus @mixedcompany_rebornjust a couple of pictures to share. Things are going GREAT people are being very respectful. Bet all the BS media won't…
Posted by The Q & Z Expo Center on Saturday, July 18, 2020
What an amazing job from Static X, Adelitas Way, Dope, and all bands that played at The Q & Z Mini Fest! We appreciate…
Posted by The Q & Z Expo Center on Sunday, July 19, 2020
Last week (July 16), there were some concerns that the festival wouldn’t go ahead after organisers reached out to fans to help set up in the festival grounds.
In a now-deleted Facebook post, organisers wrote: “So with that weather we had Tuesday, cut off a day of getting things set up for the Mini Fest. So if you have time and would like to help us get everything set up, TODAY Wednesday about 9am if you can come out to the expo to help that would be great. GOOD NEWS …… Looks like the rest of the week is going to be very nice.”
They then followed up the post with another, thanking fans who showed up to lend a helping hand. “Today weather has been on our side. Thank you to everyone that showed up to help us set up our fencing. Work in progress.”
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