Hopscotch Music Festival will require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test
The upcoming Hopscotch Music Festival will require attendees to show proof of full vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test, event organizers announced Friday.
In order to gain entry, attendees will need to show their vaccination card, a photocopy of it, or photograph of it on their phone, or they’ll need to show negative test result for the virus obtained within 72 hours “for each day that you attend the festival,” organizers said in an announcement on the festival’s website. Attendees must also bring photo ID.
The festival is also strongly encouraging attendees to wear masks, regardless of their vaccination status or seating location. And while the festival will be held at outdoor stages in Downtown Raleigh, event organizers reminded patrons that masks will be required at all indoor spaces, per the city’s recently adopted mask mandate.
Those who have already purchased tickets but don’t want to comply with the festival’s requirements can request a refund or opt to attend the 2022 festival instead by filling out a form, organizers said.
This year’s festival is scheduled to run Sept. 9 to 11. This year’s festival will be entirely outdoors at stages at Moore Square and City Plaza on Fayetteville Street with acts alternating time slots on each stage.
The lineup features 28 acts from all musical genres. Headline acts include Caroline Polachek, Flying Lotus, Animal Collective, Shannon & The Clams, Dr. Dog and Archers of Loaf. Local and regional acts, such as Sarah Shook and The Disarmers and Libby Rodenbough of Mipso, also will will take the stage.
The schedule was announced Aug. 13 and can be found at hopscotchmusicfest.com/schedule2021/. Single-day passes are now available.
Latest event to require vaccination, negative test
The announcement from Hopscotch’s organizers makes it the latest festival or event to require attendees to show that they’re fully vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID-19.
Live Nation Entertainment, which stages shows at two Raleigh venues, Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek and The Ritz, said it would be requiring concert-goers to show proof of vaccination or a negative test result at all of its U.S. venues beginning Oct. 4.
And on Tuesday, the organizer of the World of Bluegrass festival, which has been held in Raleigh every year since 2013, said attendees will need to be vaccinated.
Amid the flurry of festivals and venues announcing their new vaccination policies, some bands have had to cancel recent Raleigh shows as well.
Florida Georgia Line, which was set to visit Raleigh Oct. 21 and Charlotte Oct. 22, said Friday it was canceling its fall tour due to “the rising COVID cases and risk of putting our family, band and crew, friends, and fans in harm’s way.”
Earlier this week, Southern rock band Blackberry Smoke canceled their Aug. 17 show at Red Hat Amphitheater. The band said their guitarist, Paul Jackson was still recovering from a COVID-19 infection. Two members of the crew had also tested positive for the virus, the band said.
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 4:39 PM.
