Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden Announces Date Outdoor Performances in the U.K. Can Resume

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has announced performances in the United Kingdom can now take place outdoors beginning on July 11. This means that outdoor theaters, opera, dance and music can resume performances outside with a limited and socially distanced audience. The Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport has also published guidelines to help performing arts organizations and venue operators understand how best to keep artists and audiences safe.

The government will also work to spearhead a number of small indoor performances with a socially distanced audience to help inform plans about how best to get indoor venues back up and running. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is working alongside organizations including U.K. Theatre, the Association of British Orchestras and the Musicians’ Union to identify suitable safety guidelines and measures in the wake of COVID-19.

Theaters, concert halls and live music performance venues will also be protected from demolition or change of use by developers, stopping those that have been made temporarily vacant during the shut downs caused by coronavirus from disappearing altogether and giving extra security to these businesses as they start to re-open.

"Our culture, heritage and arts are too precious to lose," Dowden said in a statement. "That’s why we’re protecting venues like theaters from redevelopment if they fall on hard times."

This news follows the previous announcement of the government's £1.57 billion emergency support package that will help protect the future of theaters, galleries and museums across the U.K. As previously reported, West End theaters remain closed due to the coronavirus crisis.