Here are some of the measures which will be adopted during the 2022 festival to minimise Covid-19 risks for attendees and speakers:
All festival venues will be ventilated to the maximum during all sessions. Venue windows and doors (where practicable) will remain open during all sessions. April weather in Perugia is changeable; it can be enjoyably warm or decidedly fresh. Speakers and attendees are cordially invited to bring warm clothing.
All queues for attendees to enter a festival venue will be in the open air outside the building in which the venue is situated.
There is a change in the scheduling of festival sessions in relation to previous years. A 30-minute break has been placed between one session and another in all festival venues for the duration of the programme. This will allow for full airing and appropriate cleaning of venues between sessions. In consequence, the daily English-language festival programme will start earlier (at 09.00) and finish later (at 19.30) than in 2019. Speakers and attendees are cordially invited to plan accordingly.
Simultaneous translation will this year be provided in only one venue (the Auditorium San Francesco al Prato). This venue has been chosen because it offers sufficient space to distribute the (Covid-secure) translation headsets safely.
There will be no Q&A at the end of festival sessions.
All attendees are cordially invited to leave the venue immediately at the conclusion of a session. Any questions for and/or chat with session speakers should take place outside the venue in the open air.
Speaker microphones, the speaker table and other areas will be cleaned between sessions.
Hand-gel dispensers will be available in all festival venues.
It is currently obligatory in Italy to show your green pass (or equivalent proof of vaccination) before entering an indoor public space. In consequence, unless the regulations change by 6 April, the green pass of speakers and attendees will be checked on the door of all festival venues prior to entry.
It is currently obligatory in Italy to wear a mask while in an indoor public space. Even if this requirement is changed by 6 April, the festival will cordially invite all attendees to wear masks for all festival sessions in all festival venues.
There may be capacity restrictions on venues for public gatherings (such as the festival) in April. If so, we thank attendees in advance for their patience and understanding if they are unable to gain access to sessions they wish to follow. We remind speakers and attendees that all festival sessions will be live-streamed. If unable to gain access, the option of following a session via live-streaming while seated at a café table in the April sunshine could be considered.
The Italian government will review its anti-Covid regulations on 31 March. An update on the above will be posted when it is clear what new regulations (if any) will be in force in April.
Photo credit: Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash