Photos From Australia’s For The Love Festival Preview A Return To Public Partying

According to President Joe Biden, by April 19th all American adults will be eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. CDC travel restrictions are already loosening. If all goes well, it’s looking like things will be relatively back to normal by summer 2021. (DON’T JINX IT!)

While this news doesn’t give us a clear indication of when we’ll be able to attend large gatherings like concerts and festivals, we’re getting pretty psyched around these parts. Especially after seeing photos of events being held across the Pacific Ocean in Australia, where outdoor gatherings and concerts began in November of 2020. After only 909 deaths from Covid throughout the pandemic and a low case count overall, Australia has had an increasingly dense calendar of live events running since the new year. In late March, Melbourne (Victoria) played host to a five-day music and surfing festival at the city’s surf park URBNSURF, with headlining performances from electronic artists like Fisher, Flight Facilities, and house selector Hayden James.

“This was one of the first shows back since Covid hit and it was just an incredible feeling to be on stage in front of so many people again and to feel that energy and that rush,” James says. “We had an epic sunset and to share the stage again with Nat Dunn and GRAAACE… unforgettable. Hugh vibe, amazing crowd, I can’t wait to do it again.”

We snagged some photos from the event taken by photographer David Ni and it looks like… pretty much what you’d expect a pre-covid festival to look like. Which, admittedly, fills us un-vaccinated folks with all kinds of anxiety. You mean to tell us that somewhere, a bunch of people are wearing actual outfits, without masks, and drinking with strangers in public? Is it safe? Are they going to screw it up somehow before the rest of us can get un-housebound?

For what it’s worth, For the Love works directly with state health departments to create Covid protocols for their events and there haven’t been outbreaks of Covid post-public parties in any Australian state. Though American movie stars have come under fire for partying in Australia during the pandemic, the fact is that the country’s current case count is close to zero and has been minimal since a small spike in November 2020.

Check out photos from For the Love below to get hyped for the return of public events. If you’re suffering from too much FOMO to endure such mayhem, chill out with James’ latest track “Foolproof,” below.