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Live Music Returns in Post-COVID Australia

For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, live music has been popping up all over the country in the form of COVID-safe music festivals and socially distanced sit-down gigs. Yours & Owls, a weekend festival held in April of 2021, saw over 15,000 music fans per day enter Thomas Dalton Park in Wollongong for the first major music festival since the pandemic began. In conjunction with this, live gigs have been reappearing in venues such as the Canberra Theatre, with crowds nearing normal capacity once more.

While excitement around this new ability increases, sports fans continue to watch sporting events in a relatively normal way, just as they have since much earlier in the pandemic. Throughout 2020, the AFL season and the Australian Open continued despite numerous issues because of the coronavirus. AFL players and their families were pulled out of Melbourne during the state’s large scale lockdown, and multiple games were moved or cancelled due to coronavirus scares. Similarly, the Australian Open lost its crowd due to another snap lockdown in Melbourne, and many international players had to quarantine following a number of coronavirus cases on flights into the country. And yet, both competitions made it to completion. It is clear to see that people in the music industry had a very different experience to those in sport throughout the pandemic.

However, months after these events, the country is beginning to see live music crowds catch up to those at sporting matches. Alongside this, bands are able to tour again and music venues are being booked up once more. With things looking up, people in the music industry are hopeful for the future following the significant impact of the pandemic. The music industry is live once again.

Sara Garrity · Live Music Returns in Post-COVID Australia

Recent Comments

1

Nice work Sara, a very comprehensive and very scary overview. Good interviews that really hit home on the changes. I'm writing this at the end of July and things are looking less positive. I miss live music so much! Nice positive end though, very effective. :-)

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