Scottish music venues and festivals can return from May

Scottish music venues and festivals will return next month.

As coronavirus lockdown restrictions begin to ease in Europe and beyond, it has been announced that music venues and festivals in Scotland will be able to resume from the 17th May.

From next month, music venues will be able to host crowds of up to 100 people with social distancing measures in place. Festivals will adhere to the same social distancing rules, but will be allowed to host crowds of up to 500.

By June, the Scottish government said it hoped that 200 people would be permitted to attend indoor venues, with outdoor events rising to 1000 attendees.

Throughout the pandemic, the Scottish government awarded over £300million in grants and loans to support business owners, and in July, announced a £2.2million package specifically for small venues. In September, Scottish MPs shared details of the government's £15million Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund. 

Elsewhere, the UK government recently announced a £300 million boost to its Cultural Recovery Fund, intended to keep the industry afloat amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Along with the boost, Chancellor Rishi Sunak also announced that the government would be extending the furlough scheme to September 2021, and extending the Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) to 600,000 new starters. 

(Pictured: FLY Open Air)