Learnings from COVID safe events
Three events (two already held and one in the planning stages) share their learnings about holding a COVID safe event.
[Scroll to the end for links to each state’s COVID safe event guidelines]
Rotary Ride the Range, Toowoomba QLD
The director of Rotary Ride the Range charity cycle event shares about how they implemented COVID safe guidelines in October 2020.
- Contact tracing and record keeping
All cyclists were registered online so that covered them.
The club had a volunteer register (Excel spreadsheet).
All food vendors had to provide their names and contacts on arrival.
Volunteers collected names and contact details of spectators (this was very hit and miss, and some spectators were very rude).
Anyone that is a separate entity (third party contractors e.g. buses, security, rides) must supply the event with a COVID safe plan and the event director must have a copy of this – you are responsible to show this to the Dept of Health if they ask for it. - Managing crowd density
All cyclists were given start times (There were different groups of riders riding different distance races). We used a large park of a car park to corral cyclists in their distances (100 pax at most) .
We looked closely at the times and when we thought we could expect big crowds of spectators, and we segregated the crowds into race types and numbers.
We used COVID Safe ambassadors to encourage social distancing.
We also laid out our site differently to manage crowds. Signage was very effective.
People have become more mindful of social distancing and are well behaved. - Hygiene practices
We cleaned the permanent toilets every hour, and cleaned the Portaloos after every two uses. We needed more volunteers so we made it fun – Suzy Loo, Bella Bog and Joe Crap were new names on the volunteers list!
We had to provide a cleaning plan to the Dept of Health, which made us mindful of all points where things are handled, such as loading bikes into trucks - Communications strategy
For attendees we used multiple emails and Facebook messaging. We made sure participants were very aware of the COVID safety processes before arriving. We shared COVID safety responsibility with participants by basically saying we all had to do this the right way.
The contractors and suppliers we used knew they had to be compliant as they had been operating before our event was held. - Staff and volunteer training
Purely just before the event commenced we trained our staff and volunteers. Our event’s main concern was ensuring social distancing at the beginning and at the end of the races. - COVID safe costs
Hours spent in preparation before, during and after would have been an extra 20 hours…at least, plus the extra volunteer labour to implement the COVID safe practices (toilet cleaning, social distancing ambassadors) - Tips for other events planning COVID safe events for 2021
We found the industry plans easy to use (See the end of this article for a link to your state’s COVID safe event guidelines).
Don’t overthink it. Go back to the basics like with school children: don’t push in line, and keep your distance in the line.
Make it fun.
Start your contact tracing process early – QR codes or pre-register via Try-booking, etc (even if it is a free event).
Make sure volunteers are easily identified with high vis vests People are getting frustrated with giving their name and contact details – can you make this easy and fun?
Keep an eye out for software to help you
Meet the Dept of Health on site if you can. These guys are not event planners – you need to understand this! Don’t be scared to ask questions and be open to suggestions, but also be confident and strong in how you are going to do things.
If you have more space, use it and spread out! Chat to Council about getting extra space.
Don’t be restricted by the way you have done things in the past – spread it out.
Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers, QLD
The director of Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers shares about how they implemented COVID safe guidelines in September 2020. Carnival attracted over 115,000 visitors to Toowoomba over 10 days in its COVID-modified form.
- Contact tracing and record keeping
We used QR codes and paper – both worked well. - Managing crowd density
We used bollards, crowd fencing and stickers on ground.Signage effectiveness was no different to usual. Some people read and some don’t – there is always a herd mentality, even during a pandemic. - Hygiene practices
Hygiene was implemented as per state recommendations. You can’t make people wash their hands – people have to be responsible for themselves and all we can do as event providers is remind them of what appropriate hygiene standards are for the circumstances. - Communications strategy
Signage, social media, website, PA system, and verbal prompts.
We asked contractors and suppliers to provide their COVIDSafe work methods. - Staff and volunteer training
We followed the state training recommendations and used their resources. - COVID safe costs
Each event needs to risk manage their financial capacity to cover the costs and each event will have different levels of costs they incur so our cost wouldn’t be relevant to any other event. - Tips for other events planning COVID safe events for 2021
Talk directly to the Public Health Unit and submit your COVIDSafe plan early so you can get all the questions back from the department and work together on solutions specific to each individual event.
(See the end of this article for a link to your state’s COVID safe event guidelines)
Sydney Festival, NSW
The director of Sydney Festival shares about how they are implementing COVID safe guidelines for 2021:
- Managing crowd density
Distance queuing will be done using marks on the floor and bollards.
Outdoor seating will be managed using ‘pods’ of 2m x 1m areas marked out on the grass (see image below left) with all individuals required to social distance in allocated seating. We decided not to do seating in family groups etc as it creates too many challenges if there are changes to groups.
The site plan has been designed using colour coding that corresponds with wristbands. This is to reduce the total number of people in any one area at a time (see image below right).
We won’t have any intervals between shows and we’ll reduce the duration of shows to reduce any chance of crowds congregating. - Hygiene practices
We are enforcing that all staff on site wear masks, but have taken the time to find the most comfortable masks for them. - Communications strategy
The festival is very focused on regular updated communications to their audience – things are changing often so it’s important to ensure the audience is up to date and clear on what to expect at the 2021 event. - Tips for other events planning COVID safe events for 2021
We are focused on ensuring the attendee experience is just as good despite the COVID safety measures.
Do some role playing of processes to ensure they can and will work in real life.
Find your state’s COVID Safe Event Guidelines
Over to you
Share your questions or experience around COVID Safe events in the comments.