The BBC Proms will open at full capacity and without social distancing this summer, but attendees will be required to provide proof of their vaccination or Covid status in order to enter London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Anyone over the age of 18 will need to provide evidence of a negative lateral flow test taken within 48 hours of the performance they are attending, proof of double vaccination, or natural immunity based on a previously positive PCR test taken within 180 days of the performance.
Children will need verbal confirmation from a parent or guardian that they have not had a positive test.
Tickets for the first half of this year’s Proms events go on sale on 23 July; the second half follow on 24 July. Promming tickets are also available on the day of each individual concert.
The Proms run from 30 July to 11 September, with 52 concerts spanning 44 days and featuring 30 orchestras and ensembles, more than 100 soloists and conductors and over 2,000 musicians.
Highlights include a family concert by the Kanneh-Mason siblings and author Michael Morpurgo of The Carnival of the Animals; and the Aurora Orchestra performing Stravinsky’s The Firebird from memory. Four “mystery” Proms will be announced closer to the time.
International orchestras will not appear at this year’s event. It offered “a great opportunity to say, ‘this is going to be about British music-making’,” Proms director David Pickard said in May.
Last year, the Royal Albert Hall held 14 concerts played to an empty room.
