MUSIC

ACL Fest to require negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination for all attendees

On Thursday, the Austin City Limits Music Festival announced plans to require a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination for all patrons attending the event, which is scheduled to take place Oct. 1-3 and 8-10 in Zilker Park. 

The following information was added to a health policy section on the festival's website: 

"A printed copy of a negative COVID-19 test result will be required to attend ACL Festival 2021. The negative COVID-19 printed test result must be obtained within 72 hours (3 days) of attending ACL Festival. Patrons who are fully vaccinated may show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination instead of proof of negative test. Information related to masks will be released closer to the festival dates."

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While the festival will still admit children 10 and younger for free with a ticketed adult, the popular Austin Kiddie Limits section of festival programming has been paused for the 2021 event. Families attending the festival will be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test result for unvaccinated children. 

The festival also has added a "fan health pledge" to the website. It requests that fans skip the festival if they have tested positive, or been exposed to someone who has tested positive, for COVID-19 within 14 days of the beginning of the festival or if they experience symptoms consistent with COVID-19 within 48 hours of the festival. It also requests that fans do not attend if they "have travelled to any international territory identified by federal or applicable state or local governments as being subject to travel or quarantine advisories due to COVID-19." 

The move comes as Austin grapples with rising coronavirus hospitalizations in the area. Music venues and industry leaders have been trying to figure out how to increase safety measures right as large events come back after a long year on hold.

A crowd cheers in anticipation for musical artist Koffee at Austin City Limits Music Festival's T-Mobile stage on Sunday, October 13, 2019 during the second weekend of ACL Fest.

They risk violating a new state law that went into effect in June and prevents businesses from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition for entry.

Chris Porter, public information officer for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, said Thursday via email that the commission "is working to ensure businesses understand the requirements of the law."

"So far, TABC has reached out to about 17 Texas businesses which were reportedly not in compliance; each of these resulted in a commitment by the business to follow the law moving forward," he said.

Asked whether the option of a recent negative COVID-19 test brought venues into compliance with the regulation, Porter said that businesses should seek the guidance of legal counsel for measures not specifically mentioned in the law. "TABC will not take action against any business that’s making a good-faith effort to follow the law," he said.

More:As COVID-19 surges, Austin live music venues scramble 'to make sure that the fall doesn't disappear’

On Wednesday, Outlaw Music Festival at Germania Amphitheater announced it would require proof of vaccination or a negative test for entry. Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell required the same for his Aug. 7-8 shows at ACL Live. The new Moody Amphitheater in Waterloo Park on Tuesday announced that masks, but not proof of vaccination, will be required for local guitar hero Gary Clark Jr.'s concerts Friday and Saturday.

The Paramount Theatre instituted a policy similar to ACL Fest's last week. Admission to Saturday's Edie Brickell & New Bohemians concert at the venue required proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within the previous 48 hours.

Those regulations remained on the theater's website Thursday. Porter said that the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission "has reached out to Paramount and had a productive discussion. The business has agreed to comply with the law moving forward, and no formal action was needed from TABC."

Jim Ritts, executive director of Paramount operator Austin Theatre Alliance, confirmed the contact with TABC but said the theater addressed issue by simply clarifying the language to make sure patrons knew they had the option of a recent negative test.

The Paramount is "not mandating that you have to have proof of vaccine," he said. "You can choose to provide us a negative test, or you can get a refund. We weren't forcing anybody to make decisions, but giving them options."

Lollapalooza, a massive Chicago music festival produced by ACL Fest operator C3 Presents, required vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for entry to the event, which was July 29-Aug. 1. Bonnaroo, which takes place in early September in Tennessee, is using the same requirements, as is Summerfest in Milwaukee. 

At Lollapalooza, fans were greeted at the gate with signs informing them that by attending the festival they were assuming all risks of COVID-19 exposure. Rebecca Reynolds of the Music Venue Alliance of Austin called the signs a "visual waiver," but she said they were likely unnecessary to shield the festival from liability for possible COVID-19 cases contracted at the event. She said that legal experts did a "deep dive" on liability early in the pandemic and the "legal community universally, acknowledged that there's no way to prove" a venue or festival is responsible for someone contracting COVID-19. 

"There's no way to say that venues being open or a festival going on is the precise cause of a person getting COVID," she said. "There likely wouldn't be a successful case in which the COVID patient could sue a venue or a festival for getting COVID."

Chicago health officials have said the festival did not lead to a surge in coronavirus infections.

In a Twitter post on Thursday morning, Austin Mayor Steve Adler voiced his support for ACL Fest's new safety measures. "Thank you to @aclfestival for making this decision," he wrote.

Adrian Quesada of Grammy-nominated Austin band Black Pumas, which will play the fest's largest stage at 6 p.m. Friday on both weekends, told the Statesman on Thursday that he's in favor of the measures.

"I think it's not only the smart thing to do given the current situation, but the only option if we want to expect live music and gatherings in the future," Quesada said.

Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel, the legendary Austin Western swing band that has played every ACL Fest and is booked to kick off this year's event on Oct. 1, agreed that the festival's policy "seems to be the smart way to go."

Benson said that his band has mostly followed venue policies in recent performances, but he added that they would like to have proof of vaccination required "to get into our gigs, or a 72-hour negative COVID test. That would be our druthers. ... Anybody who thinks this is going away is just stupid. What you're trying to do is just minimize the effects — vaccination being one way, masks being another way."

Last year, with the world still in pandemic lockdown, ACL Fest hosted a virtual event which included clips from past performances, plus a few sets that were specially recorded for the broadcast. 

ACL tickets sold out in record time this year, but the prices for verified resale tickets on the festival's official ticket exchange site have dropped considerably from where they were a month ago, before Austin went back into Stage 5 COVID-19 restrictions.  On July 19, the cheapest weekend one three-day passes were going for $545. Weekend two was only slightly less expensive, with three-day tickets starting at $489. On Thursday, the website had weekend one passes available for around $300 and weekend two passes for as low as $274. 

The prices for three-day tickets purchased directly from the festival this year were tiered. The cheapest passes were available at the "early bird" price of $275 and the final round went for $300.  

Eric Webb contributed to this report.