A country music festival in northern Wisconsin has been given the go-ahead despite warnings about large gatherings from the local health department.
The Hodag Country Festival is set for July 9 to 12 in Rhinelander, featuring artists like Travis Tritt, Trace Adkins, Brett Eldredge and Darius Rucker.
The festival will have to implement 25 public safety measures, including encouraging fans to wear masks and practice social distancing. Pass-holders who are not comfortable attending the festival will be given refunds.
Attendance, normally around 25,000 per day, will be limited to 16,000.
“People have not been social distancing in this county for a couple of weeks now,” Oneida County Public Safety Committee member Mitch Ives said, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
Fellow committee member Billy Fried said: “Everyone understands the concerns on the health front … everyone understands the concerns on an economic standpoint, as well as constitutional rights.”
In a statement on the festival website (which was offline on Thursday morning), organizers vowed to “demonstrate that events can be safely held when everyone works together.”