It’s the year 2020. Cultural events around the world are cancelled due to the Corona pandemic. Around the world? No! A small town populated by indomitable culture lovers would not stop resisting. And so, the Salzburg Festival was able to take place this summer – in a significantly slimmed-down version, but still against all odds.
In mid-March, when the Austrian government announced strict measures to contain the virus, the cancellation of all summer festivals seemed inevitable as all major events were banned. Led by Helga Rabl-Stadler, the equally resolute and optimistic Festival President, the Salzburg Festival Board of Directors nevertheless waited and kept emphasising its firm belief in the 100th anniversary. And indeed, around 15th May it became apparent that there would be a gradual easing of lockdown in Austria. In June, a new, significantly reduced and shortened programme was announced and hundreds of thousands of ticket purchases were reversed before the new advance ticket sales could start. Almost defiantly, posters in Salzburg announced the Now-more-than-ever-festival: “Where the will is awakened, action has almost been accomplished.” It was Hugo von Hofmannsthal who once wrote these words, and in view of the current situation, one would only have to add the subordinate clause to the quote: “if the security concept is implemented!”
In order to make the Festival possible without endangering the health of employees, artists or the public, a prevention and safety concept was developed in the background, supported by an expert advisory board consisting of doctors, virologists, epidemiologists and hygienists. To protect the audience, frequent cleaning and disinfection measures were implemented, as well as the reduction of larger gatherings. For example, the number of performance venues was reduced from 16 to 8 and the entrance and exit times were decoupled in such a way that streams of spectators – for example from the Felsenreitschule and the Festspielhaus – did not coincide. All performances were played without an interval, bars and buffets remained closed and seats were allocated according to a chessboard pattern in order to maintain a one-metre distance between audience members. A face mask had to be worn until the beginning of the performance and then again when the final applause began; the necessary information on compulsory masks and the ban on fans (to prevent the spread of aerosols!) was provided in German and English and recorded by this year's Buhlschaft Caroline Peters. The high level of discipline that researchers from the Charité recently attested to the classical music audience in a study, was indeed evident – in contrast to supermarkets or public transport, you only saw people with correctly applied face masks who meticulously observed a distance of “one baby elephant”, the minimum distance recommended by the Austrian government.
Strict guidelines were also mapped out for staff and artists. For example, the rehearsal and performance schedule was thinned out and a negative corona test, no older than four days, had to be presented. In addition, everyone was divided into three groups, for each of which different measures were taken. The red group included stage artists who, due to their work, were unable to permanently observe social distancing and could not wear face masks during their artistic activities. The red group was regularly tested and a health and contact log had to be kept. The orange group included all those who were usually able to socially distance and wear a mask during their work. They also had to keep a health and contact log. The yellow group was made up of people who were able to obey social distancing at all times; they had to wear face masks whenever the minimum distance was not ensured and they had to follow general rules of hygiene. Internally, a medical corona hotline was set up, which was available at all time, and a standby service was organised by Red Cross testing teams.