NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 27

N LATE MAY, I made the short drive from my
home in Scottsdale, Arizona, to the nearby community of Chandler, home to the Wild Horse
Motorsports Park. It was an especially hot evening,
and the park was hosting a drive-in electronic
dance music festival called Road Rave. It was my first live
event after three months of coronavirus-induced quarantine. I was a guest of one of the producing organizations,
which generously provided me access to the entire event
site, as well as its planning documents. I wanted to see
how a drive-in EDM show would work, since that was
not a thing in the pre-COVID-19 world. I was especially
interested in how the organizers maintained social distancing, and whether a reasonably healthy show could
be consistent with patrons having a good time. Anyone
who doesn't regard entertainment as an essential service
should consider the conviction it takes to attend an outdoor EDM show when it's 111 degrees.
A typical EDM show has all the characteristics of
live events that attract young, enthusiastic audiences,
including a willingness among participants to pack
themselves into confined areas and converse at
extremely close range to be heard over the thundering
beats. Road Rave advertised itself as something a little
different: an EDM party where social distance mattered.
The setup was the same-a large stage facing an even
larger area for the audience-except that the audience
space was subdivided into a grid suitable for the practice of social distance, with each visitor space accessed

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by car. Between 300 and 500 vehicles were permitted,
with a maximum capacity of eight people per vehicle.
Each car was sent to its reserved parking space, which
was marked by rope and rebar and lines painted on
the ground. Patrons were handed two-sided paper
instructions that included event rules, lists of prohibited
and allowed items, a phone number for on-site medical
emergencies, instructions and a QR code to order food
and drink that could be delivered to them, and egress
procedures.
My observation walking around the site that night
was that the regimentation necessary to hold the event
during a pandemic didn't dampen patrons' enjoyment
of it. In general, people seemed to stay in their respective marked areas, which had the feel of tailgating and
offered them plenty of room to dance, talk, eat, or do
whatever they chose within their groups. Many cars were
decorated with signs and glow sticks, and the attire,
including some face coverings, was EDM appropriate.
The audio and video quality of the show itself were good
enough. Kids looked like they were having fun. Once
I got over the novelty of talking with people in person
rather than through a video monitor, I had fun, too. As a
trained observer, I would say that the event's action plan
was carefully considered and conscientiously implemented. I am not aware of anyone who has contracted
coronavirus as a result of attending the event. As a test
of a concept to see if it could safely be scaled into something profitable, the weekend was a success. u

7/1/20 7:24 PM

NFPA Journal - July/August 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2020