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Entertainment and event venues allowed to reopen in the Golden State
As of Thursday, many concert theater and event venues are allowed to reopen for business in California. They are only restricted by the tier color of the county the venue is in. But don't expect a free-for-all right away.
SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - As of Thursday, many California concert, theater, meeting and other venues can open for business subject to a series of restrictions before a complete opening in June.
The opening of venues is now permitted, limited only by the restrictions of the tier color of the county the venue is in.
"If you're safe and sanitized and healthy, then why not be out and do all the things you're normally able to do?" said Cayvion Ventura of Vallejo.
Right now, most folks we spoke with still appear wary.
"I still hope people proceed with caution because not everybody is on the same level of vaccination," said Anthony Grant of Emeryville.
"As long as everyone is kind of being safe about it, wearing their masks as they're supposed to, I think it should be fine," said Serina Trujillo of San Leandro.
"Be patient and sort of let the science guide what we do," said James Su of Emeryville.
As of June 15, assuming no surges or vaccine shortages, venues are essentially wide open.
"It's not necessarily a free-for-all. We can open at 100% capacity, but there still may be mask requirements, vaccination requirements," said wedding planner Amy Ulkutekin, who is also president of the California Association for Private Events.
"The first day that weddings, birthday parties, graduation celebrations, bar mitzvahs, baby showers; all of those events are technically allowed in the state. This is a huge win for our industry because it helps to propel us back to work and get us going for the summer," said Ms. Ulkutekin.
It's also about overall confidence. So now, those couples who are getting married, those people who are planning galas, fundraisers, everything under the sun, have that confidence that they're not going to have to cancel or postpone moving forward," said Ulkutekin.
Matt Altman, owner of Headline Booking Group, is a New York City based, international major events booker for corporations and wealthy clients.
"It's, most importantly, seeing what the localized environment is. It really becomes a state by state question," said Mr. Altman.
So, we asked him: Are the days of massive crowds in huge venues back?
"The confidence level at that level? We're not there yet. You look at the major tours of the major headliners. They are not announcing things that are going into stadiums," said Altman.
He expects a gradual build up for the rest of this year.
"Then come the spring of next year this time next year, it gonna be full on and there's gonna be that mass opening that we're talking about," said Altman.
But, the days of 'nothing goes' are quickly fading behind us.