The latest novel coronavirus-related restrictions for events have meant many would have to be cancelled due to logistics and feasibility, organisers have said.

Although considered necessary and, in some cases, even doable, many would pull the plug on their events if they had not done so already in the current circumstances.

Co-founder of Glitch Festival, Karl Attard, who cancelled his upcoming club nights a day before the new restrictions were announced, was categorical, saying it was obvious that if his events were still happening, they would be “technically impossible” now.

The health ministry last week announced limits on the number of people who may attend such events to control the spread of COVID-19. The restrictions were introduced following a threat of industrial action and widespread opposition to four planned mass events.

The organisers of the weekend-long parties, targeting revellers from the UK, have since succumbed to the pressure and been cancelled.

Attard believes mass festivals would have found it impossible to abide by the regulations, which include having no more than one person every four square metres.

He acknowledged that even though it was simply a question of extending the space, the reality was that everyone would want to be in front of the DJ booth and close to each other, meaning social-distancing issues would not be solved.

As for restricting people to groups no larger than 10, he questioned how that could be possible with people in party mode and socialising – not exactly in a restaurant environment, seated with a group of friends.

Franco Vella, creative director of YOU.mt event organisers, both locally and abroad, said the southern Mediterranean culture meant it was hard to limit the number of people together and physical contact between them.

Cancelling an event is easier said than done

“It is not easy to control big crowds,” he said, referring to the new restrictions on groups of 10.

In Amsterdam and Belgium, which he said were leaders in the music festival field, people were being allocated their own benches and areas at dance events – but the “culture” allowed for it.

Vella pointed to extra security expenses and the huge risks involved, even reputational, which could destroy an organiser if something went wrong.

René Farrugia, the man behind the niche Dark Malta Festival in April, which had also been cancelled, said he would still have stopped his event in the current scenario on the same principle, even though the restrictions made sense.

“The way things stand now, although it would have been doable, I would not be comfortable going ahead and I would have cancelled,” he said.

Neither would Farrugia feel comfortable attending a festival and he has cancelled DJing engagements, doubting how many people would be keen on mass events, considered to be more than 500 people. Crowd control was possible for a small gig, he said.

Farrugia acknowledged that cancelling an event was “easier said than done”, pointing out that it took him four weeks’ work to put off to next year his international gothic and metal festival, which attracts around 1,000 people, mostly from overseas.

With airports reopened and business as usual, there would be no chance of refunds, he said, meaning huge losses for promoters that could result in no funds for next year’s events.

Malta Fashion Week founder Adrian Mizzi, who cancelled this year’s event due to COVID-19, said the restrictions were a must and that, tackled professionally, they were doable.

“Event organisers can and should be responsible,” he said about the onus being on them to ensure that standards are observed, according to the new restrictions.

Risk assessments, which now need to be carried out for venues with more than 100 people, should always be carried out, and the space ratios, which event organisers always had to take into account, had simply been changed, he said, adding that it was possible to control huge venues with planning and expertise.

Mizzi and others distinguished between different events, saying the village feast band marches did not allow for taking contact details and temperature.

Since the restrictions were introduced, the August Moon Ball was held in the Verdala Palace gardens on Saturday, but questions to the Office of the President on measures taken to ensure safety at the event had remained unanswered.

President George Vella had himself opted to cancel a visit to Valletta’s St George’s Square to meet the residents on Friday evening on the grounds of health issues.

Several events are being cancelled, including even book and fashion launches, but a beer garden, among other events, went ahead.