‘Herd immunity music festival’ to take place in July, against the advice of medical experts

‘As humans we NEED other human contact’ wrote the event organisers

The world’s first “herd immunity festival” is set to take place next month, going against the advice of medical experts.

Music events worldwide have been cancelled to limit the spread of coronavirus, but the three-day-long festival in Ringle, Wisconsin in the US plans to go ahead in July.

Included among the Herd Immunity Fest performers are artists such as Static-X, Nonpoint, Dope, Bobaflex, and Royal Bliss.

Described as a “mini-fest”, the event will take place outdoors at the Q&Z Expo Centre. Promotion for the event makes no mention of social distancing measures.

In a now-deleted post on Facebook, one of the event’s organisers wrote: “When the lockdown first happened, my first thought was OK we can all do 2 weeks, then it went on and on, things were getting cancelled, I started to worry about people not only for this Covid but mental, physical, financial.

“As humans we NEED other human contact. MUSIC in itself is great, but the live streams as I am sure you all know is just not the same we need LIVE , feel it to the bones, run shivers up your spine MUSIC with people around us. Takes us all away on a trip that unless you have felt it you won’t understand.”

The festival will be the first rock festival featuring recognisable acts to take place since the pandemic began.

The “herd immunity” theory posits that allowing the virus to spread through the population encourages people to quickly develop immunity, becoming less likely to then pass the virus on to others. It has been disputed by many medical experts and has been rejected as a pandemic strategy in countries across Europe.

The festival has changed its name since this article was written, and no longer mentions "herd immunity" in any of its promotional materials.