On Saturday, dance music fans in Amsterdam were treated to their first live show in over a year while acting as guinea pigs in a research project, providing a brief reprieve from COVID-19 lockdown. A carefully planned test event in Amsterdam's largest music hall, the ZiggoDome, with a capacity of up to 17,000 people, was authorised for a total of 1,300 people.
Fans were tracked in all their gestures and connections through a tag they were made to wear, as they danced to tunes provided by Dutch DJs Sam Feldt, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, and others, in an attempt to see how events could be safely opened up to the public again. Both guests were required to take a coronavirus test 48 hours before the event and were encouraged to repeat the test five days later.
Within, they were divided into six classes, each with its own set of rules for social distancing and face masks, as well as varying degrees of mobility. Data on their behaviour can be used by government advisors to make recommendations on whether or not to ease the lockdown in the coming months. The dance festival is part of a government-sponsored series of test events that involves a business meeting, two football matches, and a comedy show, all with different rules for different groups to see what works best.
Even though infections have been increasing in recent weeks as more infectious virus mutations take root, the Dutch government gradually eased lockdown measures last week, allowing a small reopening of non-essential stores and secondary schools. Since mid-October, all bars and pubs in the Netherlands have been closed, and a national curfew of 9:00 p.m. to 4.30 a.m. has been in effect for the past six weeks.