Thanks to the strict health measures imposed in 2020, New Zealand has not had new Covid-19 cases of Covid-19 in recent months. Early on in the pandemic, the country closed its borders and adhered to strict lock-down measures. The results of these effective measures have kept New Zealand safe, and with very few cases nationwide. The country’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the extreme measures had been taken for the health and well-being of the country.
The positive results of these measures in turn have meant that big music festivals are back in the best time possible: it’s summer in that part of the world. For many of us it might seem an image from the past or an illusion for the future, but on the other side of the world it is happening now.
In the last days of 2020, the Rhythm and Vines festival in Gisborne brought together some 20,000 people. Rhythm & Alps, in Wanaka, had 10 thousand people in the audience – the same happened with Northern Bass, in Mangawhai.
The atmosphere for festivals is, unfortunately, rather bleak in other parts of the world. The organizers of the Glastonbury Festival, for instance, have called for financial support from the government.
All these summer festivals are happening in New Zealand without any protection measures – including no mask use or social distancing – because, for the time being, the island is allegedly coronavirus-free.
