With Allan Sko
It is with a cautious yet joyous song in my heart that I can report the following changes to the ACT, effective tonight (Friday, 18 February) at 6pm:
- All density limits that currently apply to restricted businesses and activities will be removed, and there will no longer be a requirement for businesses to display signage for capacity limits
- The requirement for patrons to be seated while eating and drinking in hospitality and licensed venues will be removed, and dancing will be permitted
- Ticketing and preregistration requirements for events will be removed
- Employees can return to the workplace where it suits them and their employer
The full press release can be viewed by clicking here.
While I appreciate and understand this may make some wary, and caution is still advised, this is HUGE news for an industry that has been been through the wringer in the past years.
Art and music have been among the worst affected industries by the pandemic. They are also one of the last to recover. I had it on good authority that some beloved Canberra venues couldn’t exist much longer with the previous restrictions.
So you do you. Exercise caution. Stay safe. Canberrans are brilliant at that.
But if you’re comfortable, there is no better time to get out and enjoy the raft of live music and arts this fair city of ours has to offer (to whit, check out the WOLO music Guide and the BMA Guide to music and arts!)
Arts, music venues, and the artists and musicians that call those places a home-away-from-home have battled trials, tribulations, battered mental health and devastated wallets, yet they’ve fought and fought to be there for us. It’s time to return the favour.
AND, you get a bloody good time out of it in the bargain, plus further assurance that you live in one of the world’s great places populated with one of the world’s greatest people.
Right, better go; I’m getting all emotional and hyperbolic over here. I’m off to put together the first print BMA of 2022. It comes out 3 March, and it’s gonna be a whopper.
Much love, Ken Behrens.
