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UK Government announces indoor music performances can return in August

Indoor performances with socially distanced audiences will be able to take place across the country next month

The UK Government has announced that socially distanced indoor music performances will return this summer.

Following the announcement of a £1.57billion support package for the arts and culture industries earlier this month, prime minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that socially distanced indoor events will be permitted to take place from August 1st.

The UK government are now in the third stage of the "return to normal" roadmap, which allows crowds outdoors, and the fourth stage will allow socially distanced, limited-capacity audiences inside at theatres and music venues. 

It's been four months since prime minister Boris Johnson officially ordered a list of venues, which included clubs, pubs, bars, food and drink venues, theatres, and concert halls, to close their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this month (4th July), pubs and restaurants reopened around the UK, but many arts and culture institutions remain shuttered.

In May, the UKs Music Venue Trust’s #SaveOurScene campaign was launched with the intention of raising funds and highlighting the challenges faced by small music venues and clubs amid the coronavirus lockdown.