Salzburg festival kicks off its 100th edition despite COVID-19 pandemic

While concert halls and theatres worldwide remain shut, Austria unveiled the prestigious summer music event Salzburg Festival's 110th edition this weekend. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Austria’s month-long cultural festival opened with the strict anti-coronavirus measure in place on Saturday, August 1. 

According to international media reports, the organisers of the annual Salzburg Festival had earlier planned 200 events for its star-studded centenary edition, but the pandemic slimmed-down the programme instead.

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Salzburg Festival's first day was marked by a performance of Richard Strauss's blood-curdling opera Elektra. The curtain also rose for the celebrated play Everyman, which is written by one of the festivals’ original founders Hugo von Hofmannsthal. 

A thunderstorm, however, forced the performances indoors. As per reports, the audiences are obliged to wear face mask although the change in location made it difficult for people to maintain a safe distance.

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Strict safety measures  

In a bid to adhere to the health guidelines and keeping in mind the safety, the organisers are imposing strict safety measures on the 110 shows that still going ahead. The officials also informed that all 80,000 tickets on sale are personalised to enable contact-tracing in case of an infection. The authorities are also reported to have cancelled all intermissions and catering services. 

Moreover, the artists who are unable to keep a distance of at least three feet from their colleagues have been asked to undergo regular COVID-19 testing. Austria, so far, has managed to contain the spread of the virus.

Currently, the country has some 21,000 confirmed cases and nearly 700 deaths. However, reports state that new infections have been rising in recent weeks and a recent cluster is at Lake Wolfgang, less than 50 kilometres from Salzburg.

(Image Credits: AP) 

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